Sabbath Devotional :: Repairing the Breach

As I contemplated what I could write that would sufficiently meet the moment we are in, my mind returned to a Sabbath devotional I wrote almost three years ago. I reread it and felt it was relevant.


“. . . and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” (Isaiah 58:12)

The word “breach” means a hole or gap in a fortress, usually caused by an attacking army.

The stakes of Zion are “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm” (D&C 115:6).

In other words, Zion is a fortress. Our wards and stakes should be refuges and defenses against that which would destroy. Unfortunately, as we know too well, breaches have damaged our fortresses.

We have breaches in our personal and community relationships — some are newly created, and some existing holes have been recently enlarged.

My brother Jacob D. Rawlins said, “We have relationships that are strained by social, intellectual, religious, and political differences. The past few years have amplified these breaches as a worldwide pandemic isolated us and divisive political and social issues blew holes in our walls of friendship and love. As we look around at our world, we can see breaches everywhere, and as we stand on the broken walls and see the spiritual enemy flowing into our fortress, it can be horribly disheartening.”

We see the breach. We feel it. We are both victims and perpetrators of it. Sometimes I think it would be easier to escape from the brokenness and build a new fortress with like-minded friends.

However, in this analogy, the fortress represents Zion. And we know that “Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness; her borders must be enlarged; her stakes must be strengthened; yea, verily I say unto you, Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments” (D&C 82:14).

We seek to enlarge our borders by welcoming more people to Zion. We live in a time of gathering.

Gathering Israel goes hand in hand with building Zion. To build Zion, we need to repair breaches. And to be effective, we need to understand what Zion is. “And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18).

Let’s look at what this might mean for us:

1. Being of one heart and one mind

Alma encouraged his followers to have “their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another” (Mosiah 18:21).

“O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever” (Jacob 3:2).

To become of one heart and one mind, we love God and each other (see Matt 22:37-39). We don’t need to have the same interests or opinions. We simply love. Love is an outward emotion, seeking the welfare of others. Where life has divided us, we look past weaknesses and offenses to remember the worth of souls among our neighbors and ward members. We remind ourselves that people are three-dimensional and that everyone is more than their social media persona. Instead of dismissing people and cutting them out of our circles, we embrace them and invite them in. We forgive.

2. Dwelling in righteousness

Isaiah prophesied: “and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”

In addition to repairing the breach, we are called on to restore paths.

In context here, Isaiah is preaching about the law of the fast and keeping the Sabbath day holy. In ancient times, observance of the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant: “Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; . . . Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath . . . for a perpetual covenant” (Exodus 31:13, 16).

Knowing that observing the Sabbath day was a sign of the covenant, and seeing that Isaiah was exhorting people to keep the Sabbath holy, we can conclude that keeping covenants can result in our being both repairers of the breach and restorers of the paths.

In his first address as president of the Church, Russell M. Nelson encouraged us to “keep on the covenant path.” This has become a theme during his service as president.

As we intentionally and purposefully keep our covenants, we will help to restore the covenant path in our own lives as well as repairing the breach in our communities. We can dwell in righteousness as we focus on our own covenants and withhold judgment of others.

3. And there was no poor among them

I think of King Benjamin’s great sermon, where he says, “ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand . . . for his punishments are just — But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent” (Mosiah 4:16-18).

Reading King Benjamin’s words while thinking about those who are poor — temporally poor, spiritually poor, relationship poor, or are in any way feeling left out of the blessings of a Zion community — is enlightening to me. When we see loved ones struggling with their faith, we should never respond, “Well, it’s just a separation of the wheat from the tares.” No. We are part of the gathering. We will not turn out the spiritual beggar claiming she has brought upon herself her misery. We need to share our spiritual wealth through ministering.

4. Trust in the Savior

When he visited the Lamanites and Nephites, Christ “did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him” (3 Nephi 17:9).

Christ heals us individually and He will heal our relationships, our families, wards, communities, and nations. For example, elsewhere Isaiah prophesied: “And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them” (Isaiah 19:22).

Repair. Restore. Enlarge. Strengthen. Arise. These are not idle words. There is work to be done to repair the breaches in our wards and stakes, in our families and neighborhoods. We need to do our part to participate in the gathering of Israel and the building of Zion. Elder Christofferson said, “We cannot wait until Zion comes for these things to happen — Zion will come only as they happen.”

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Megan Rawlins Woods is the nonpartisan root senior director at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.

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