Digital Only: Youth Voices

God Is Looking Out for Me

I was hit with a very sudden bout of depression a few weeks after I got my mission call. I had no energy, no motivation, and scariest of all, I was angry. Angry at my family, friends, God, and at myself. Because of the way I was feeling, I was not able to hit the goals that I had set for myself.

I felt like God was giving me the short end of the stick. For so much of my life, I had found happiness in the service of my friends and family. I was always thinking of ways to lift them up and make their lives better. Plus, I had just committed to spend the next two years of my life doing the very same thing. I felt like my life was devoted to service, and yet God couldn’t prompt one person to even check in on how I was doing? It didn’t really seem like He cared.

Of course, that wasn’t true at all. God cared about me more than I could even comprehend. He was giving me everything I needed. He gave me a set of strong habits that kept me in touch with the gospel, an incredible family that was kind and loving and supportive but who also pushed me to make changes and improve myself, and He blessed me with a couple of wonderful friends who (whether they knew it or not) gave me the strength I needed to keep going.

Though I couldn’t really see it while I was in the middle of my trial, God was looking out for me. As I received my temple endowment, I realized that God has been looking out for me from the beginning of time—literally! Every part of the plan was built so that I could, eventually, feel the fullness of celestial joy. The crowning jewel of this plan was the sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son, a gift so perfect it can never be repaid.

I am so grateful for God. I am so grateful for my Savior and for the sacrifice He made so that I can escape from the pains that I feel in this world. Jesus Christ lives, and He wants us to live, too!

Nathan M., age 18, Utah, USA

Likes singing, acting, running, biking, and lifting.