Have you noticed that you can learn life lessons and make connections to eternal truths in most everyday areas of life? I used to spend a lot of time in the car driving and would have random thoughts sometimes about my experiences there. It’s really a wonderful thing that the Lord will come to us and teach us where we are.
One time I was driving and had a close call due to the bad decision of another driver. Heart pumping and nerves on edge, I was so upset by the dangers that driver exposed me and my loved ones to, that I stewed about the incident for quite some time. While I was so grateful for the protection I received and expressed thanks for it, my primary feeling was one of ill-usage by the driver. A few days later as I uneventfully drove the same stretch of road, the thought came to me that although I spent a fair amount of time in the car, covering the same roads, I never regarded or gave any time at all in my mind for the hundreds of drivers who obeyed the traffic laws and were patient and gracious in their driving (unless it was a very brief moment of thanks when someone would let me in or would forgive a mistake in my driving judgment,) allowing me to safely go about the business of my life.
As I pondered this, I realized that every day I am surrounded by blessings that seem so common and ordinary, that I never even notice them or stop to appreciate their significance. It’s only when something is missing or goes wrong that I really make space for a recognition of those unnoticed blessings. Just like those cars and drivers sharing the road with me everyday, it is not that the blessings weren’t there, but they were unseen. Not until my eyes (and heart) were open to their existence was I able to truly appreciate the fact that we are abundantly blessed every day in ways we may never even know.
Elder Bednar brought attention to the “tender mercies” (or blessings given us by a loving Father) of the Lord. He said, “the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15). He reminds us that “the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence…We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance (see 1 Ne. 1:20). (David A Bednar, “The Tender Mercies of the Lord,” Ensign, May 2005). The very nature of these blessings-that they are both “simple” and “constant”-means that they may be easy to miss or overlook. As our eyes are opened to them, however, what richness and love we can behold! So, instead of giving the less frequent negative experiences undue attention and impact in our lives, we find the mercies that overwhelm us with the goodness of God. It’s a happy way to live.
I’m sure I still miss opportunities to see the blessings surrounding me daily, but I do try now to be more aware of everyday mercies that show me how tender our Father in Heaven really is. The small and simple, common and ordinary blessings are no less spectacular for not being big. It is the constancy and abundance of them, like hundreds of safely driven cars passing me by, that sustain and sweeten my life.
