April 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering – Easter and the Balm of Gilead
The April 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering printable ties together Elder Brent H. Nielson’s October 2021 General Conference talk “Is There No Balm in Gilead?” and this April’s “Come, Follow Me” lesson on Easter and how to find joy through the Savior’s Atonement.
Download April 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering Printable (4×6)
You can print these printables as 4×6 photo prints. My local drug store prints them for just pennies. They are also a higher resolution if you want to enlarge them.
April 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering Message
Easter and How to Find Joy Through the Savior’s Atonement
As we celebrate Easter this month, it is a perfect time to talk about the balm of Gilead. In the Old Testament, the balm of Gilead was an ointment used for healing. It is often used in scriptures and hymns as a metaphor for the healing power of Christ.
The Balm of Gilead
For example in Jeremiah 8:22, Jeremiah laments, “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?” Jeremiah sees the sins of the people and the calamities that are coming. The people need healing, but their superficial efforts aren’t enough.
The Lord tells the people, “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 8:11). A helpful way to think about this verse is to imagine you just got hit by a car and have a compound fracture. The paramedic arrives and puts a band-aid over the wound. He only heals it “slightly.” His efforts aren’t enough. When you protest, he tells you reassuringly, “Don’t worry, it is okay.” But you know full well that it isn’t okay!
In Jeremiah’s words, we see a contrast between the superficial healing of the physician’s balm and the deeper, eternal healing of the Savior. The people are attempting to make things better, but have not turned to the one Physician who can save them.
Later in Jeremiah, we are reminded of who that physician is when the Lord promises, “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds” (Jeremiah 30:17). The Lord does not heal us “slightly,” but restores us completely.
Struggling with Physical Healing
We often look for “slight” and immediate healings when the Lord has more lasting and significant healings in mind. For example, in my twenties I started to get migraines. My migraines don’t happen all the time, but when I do get them the pain is debilitating. They don’t respond to medications and can last longer than three days. For years I would suffer for days before finally heading to the ER.
One of the hardest periods was when I was undergoing fertility treatment. In case I was pregnant, I could not take anything besides Tylenol for the pain. And my migraines laughed at Tylenol.
Several times, I was confined to bed in a dark room in unbearable pain for days. There was nothing I could do. I would beg, plead, and cry to my Heavenly Father for help. The crying made my head hurt even worse. I worried about my faith and why I wasn’t healed. Where was my miracle? I was desperate for it to end. The worst part is that I never did get pregnant. I was willing to bear the pain for the health of my unborn child, but I suffered through all that pain for no reason. Like Jeremiah, I felt hopeless and overwhelmed. I was upset with God and didn’t know why I had to endure this.
Obtaining Deeper Spiritual Healing
It is embarrassing, but it took me decades to figure it out. I was too busy railing against God. I was so focused on the physical healing, the “slightly” healing, that I missed the deeper spiritual healing that I needed.
As Elder Brent H. Nielson shared in his October 2021 General Conference talk, the Lord “can heal our eyes and our ears and our legs, but most important of all, He can heal our hearts as He cleanses us from sin and lifts us through difficult trials.”
Through these trials, the Lord has refined me in ways I would have missed out on. I have learned how to feel peace even during the most trying times. I no longer rail against God, but sit with Him. As a result, my pain is much easier to bear. This inner-calm and spiritual flexibility has helped me weather much harder trials. I not only gained insights into the suffering of others, but the love the Savior has for us as He suffered all our pains and sins. Looking back, I wanted to be healed physically, but the Lord understood that figurative bones needed to be reset before I could be healed spiritually.
Finding the Savior’s Healing Power
When talking about the death of his father, Elder Nielson shared, “I had mistakenly believed that the Savior’s healing power had not worked for my family. As I now look back with more mature eyes and experience, I see that the Savior’s healing power was evident in the lives of each of my family members. I was so focused on a physical healing that I failed to see the miracles that had occurred.”
He later adds, “Was it possible that I had not fully understood that the Savior’s healing power was not just His ability to heal our bodies but, perhaps even more important, His ability to heal our hearts.”
This Easter, I testify of the healing power of the Savior. We are all promised resurrection – a physical healing – but He wants more for us. He wants to prepare us for eternal salvation.
April 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering Handout for Easter
I decided I wanted to make candy carrots for my ministering sisters, but was having a hard time finding a candy that was orange and that the typical adult would like. I could do Reese’s Pieces, but I didn’t have enough time to sort out all the brown and yellow pieces. And I don’t think anyone over the age of 30 likes orange slices or circus peanuts. But peach rings are yummy and orange enough to pass off as a carrot.
These are really simple to make. I just bought some cone-shaped cello bags, filled them with candy, scrunched up green tissue paper at the top, and tied it off with a ribbon.
I decided to make a few for my Primary class too! If you order ahead, you can also buy Reese’s Pieces on Amazon that only have orange pieces!
Did you like this April 2022 Come Follow Me Ministering message? Find more Relief Society Ministering Printables for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
These ministering printables are a great way to help families incorporate the “Come, Follow Me” lessons into their own study. They are also perfect for Young Women’s, Relief Society, Sunday School, or Family Home Evening. I hope that these ministering printables will be a simple way to reach out to those we minister to.
