A few years ago I was fly-fishing in Idaho on Henry's Lake it was my first time using a float tube and I was pretty excited. For those of you not familiar with a float tube, it is basically an inner tube with a seat so your legs are dangling in the water. You wear waders to stay dry and to propel yourself you use fins and kick your feet. As my fishing friend and I stood on a bluff overlooking the lake it was a beautiful site. We were going to fish until dark and stay the night there on the hillside in our little light dome tent. We set up our tent among some free ranging cattle so we had to be careful to find a good spot. People familiar with camping where cattle are will appreciate this statement. I asked if we shouldn't stake the tent but my friend assured me as long as we just put our sleeping bags in the tent it would be fine.
We were both anxious to try our luck on the large trout living in Henry's Lake so no more thought was given to the tent. We donned our waders, inflated the float tubes and headed quickly for the lake. To get away from other fisherman on the lake, I went out into the lake a fair distance. The skies were bright and beautiful as we began. But as people acquainted with the mountains and especially mountain lakes know, the weather can change rapidly. One minute I was casting under blue skies and the next I was fighting gale force winds that were pushing me further out into the lake. Prayers were offered and with every ounce of energy I was kicking my way back to shore.
In the midst of my battle with the winds and with the waves crashing on me, I looked up on the cliff where the tent was set up. Almost as if sprinkled with fairy dust I saw our tent tumbling, tumbling and tumbling before leaving the clutches of the earth's gravity - flying thru the sky and then like a pregnant Frisbee come crashing into the lake. Fortunately, someone close to it pulled it to shore. Much later, I arrived at shore exhausted. We claimed our soaked tent and hung our wet sleeping bags out to dry. The storm had past. The skies were again blue with the setting sun and the lake was calm as if nothing had ever happened. The only thing different than an hour earlier was that there were a number of scared fisherman appreciating life, some of whom had to be rescued by boat. And of course there was a wet tent with our dripping sleeping bags inside.
In setting up the tent both my friend and I were aware of normal procedures in securing a tent. In not doing what we both knew we should do caused us a wet and uncomfortable night. In life we often know what to do but we sometimes ignore those guidelines or best practices. After all, the sky is blue and life is good.
Let me return to me on the lake in the float tube. When the storm hit it was very sudden and very concerning. I don't usually get too emotional in situations like this and I try to size up the situation. Here is what the facts told me. One, this is my first time in a float tube. Two, I have put myself quite a distance from the safety of the shore. Three, the wind was blowing me into the middle of the lake. Four, with waders on I was not in a good situation to swim even if I thought I could make it that far in the cold mountain lake water so there was no thought of abandoning the tube. Five, there were those waves crashing on me. I had some idea of what the apostles encountered when they woke the Master and said "carest thou not that we perish?" The kind of wind and the waves that battered them and tested their faith was something I understood at that moment very well with each wave that hit me and by the strong wind pushing me from safety. Everything said, "Mike - you need help!"
I questioned myself asking if I was worthy of His help. While I may have been a bit far out for a first-timer in a float tube, I had not been otherwise foolish.
This storm was not blowing on me because I had made a spiritual mistake. Although as I was fighting the elements and kicking back to shore, I did reflect on my worthiness to ask for and receive the aid I needed from my Heavenly Father.
The lesson this taught me and I want to share with you today is, there are sometimes storms that come into our lives. Some of these, like my tent and sleeping bag getting wet, are caused by our own neglect and foolishness. Others are the result of nothing that we have done. However, our ability to escape those storms will be predicated on our worthiness to ask for and receive assistance.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell put it this way:
"Petitioning in prayer has taught me that the vault of heaven, with all its blessings, is to be opened only by a combination lock: one tumbler falls when there is faith, a second when there is personal righteousness and the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is (in God's judgment, not ours) " ˜right' for us.
My wife and I are teaching Institute to the young adults in our stake. We are studying the Doctrine and Covenants. It has been interesting to me to see that much of the hardship that the early saints endured was the result of their disobedience. Interestingly, some of those early members, like the Prophet Joseph, were required to endure some of that same hardship even though it was not their disobedience that had caused it. And I have learned that even though the saints were poor and challenged, the Lord still required their faith and obedience.
I have likewise learned that it is silly to try to fix blame on someone for that storm when you are fighting the storm. The challenge is to be prepared and to be worthy. Then and only then can you ask for the required help in confidence while you wait patiently on the Lord in faith for the strength to do the rest.
B.H. Roberts and Elder Neal A. Maxwell have both called Liberty Jail "a prison temple" for the Prophet Joseph Smith. One cannot read section 121 without being moved by the Spirit. What an incredible piece of scripture. The prophet was jailed for five and a half months during one of the coldest winters in remembered history. He was fed poisoned food and rotten meat. He lived in a cellar without toilet, bed or warm clothes. And yet, he was able to receive several revelations because he stayed close to the Spirit. When he was allowed to escape, he rejoiced and made his way to Illinois renewed in Spirit because of his release and for all the Lord had taught him in that prison. He went from that horrible prison to a swamp and built up a town so beautiful it was called Nauvoo. He was purified by that refining experience in jail.
Brigham Young said Joseph progressed more in 38 years because of his trials than he could have in a 1000 years without them.
Sydney Rigdon had been with the prophet when some of the most incredible revelations and visions in this dispensation were given such as the one in section 76 where the Father and Son appeared to them in the Kirtland Temple. He was arrested at the time Joseph was. He was imprisoned for only two months. When released he proclaimed that not even Jesus had endured the suffering that he had. The trials that might have purified him as they did Joseph seemed to weaken him. Sydney after that time would gradually decrease in his influence in the Church and eventually would be excommunicated. He died in New York outside the Church. Once a man who had said with the Prophet Joseph, "we saw Him even on the right hand of God," he had lost everything that means anything. His posterity would likewise miss all the great blessings of the Gospel.
President Joseph F. Smith said, "When I as a boy first started out in the ministry, I would frequently go out and ask the Lord to show me some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a testimony. But the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until he made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. He did not have to send an angel from the heavens to do this, nor did he have to speak with the trump of an archangel. By the whisperings of the still small voice of the Spirit of the living God, he gave to me the testimony I possess. And by this principle and power he will give to all the children of men a knowledge of the truth that will stay with them, and it will make them to know the truth, as God knows it, and to do the will of the Father as Christ does it. And no amount of marvelous manifestations will ever accomplish this. It is obedience, humility, and submission to the requirements of heaven and to the order established in the kingdom of God upon the earth, that will establish men in the truth. Men may receive the visitation of angels; they may speak in tongues; they may heal the sick by the laying on of hands; they may have visions and dreams; but except they are faithful and pure in heart, they become an easy prey to the adversary of their souls, and he will lead them into darkness and unbelief more easily than others."
Even though Sydney had seen visions, he apparently lacked humility and failed to submit himself to the requirements of heaven and to the order established in the Kingdom of God upon the earth. In so doing, he became prey to the adversary. His sad account should be a lesson to us.
Tough times will come to all of us. Storms will beat on us. We will need to be worthy to seek and obtain the help we need when they do. We must also understand that storms can be a refining time. I have seen so many who have lost children or health or been cheated of savings and still they keep the faith. They refuse to let circumstance rob them of their faith and their hope and they make spiritual progress because of it. When we have trials we can blame God, the bishop, the university president or others or we can endure them well and let the experience refine and define us.
In D&C 101:63 it reads: "... , inasmuch as they are willing to be guided in a right and proper way for their salvation: "
This is an interesting phrase. It indicates that we have agency to follow and that the Lord will provide the guide to lead us. But we must be willing.
In a parable in that same Section the Lord tells his servants to, "go ye straightway, and do all things whatsoever I have commanded you." That is a key. Do what the Lord says straightway. "Straightway" means immediately; without loss of time; without delay. We should do likewise. Keep the Lord's commandments right here - right now. Then we can be confident that he will guide us in the proper way.
Sometimes we may wonder if it is fair for the Lord to require so much of us. This year as we studied the Doctrine and Covenants we read where the Lord asked those that had moved to Kirkland to build a temple. The saints were very poor. Many including the Prophet Joseph did not have a home of their own. After revealing in section 88 that He wanted the saints in Kirtland to build a temple and getting no progress, the Lord says in
D&C 95:11-13
"Verily I say unto you, it is my will that you should build a house (temple). If you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it. If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness. Now here is wisdom, and the mind of the Lord."
The key is so simple but we struggle so hard with it, "If you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it." Keep the commandments and the Lord will provide the power to accomplish what he needs done. Try to do it another way and we are left to ourselves.
In the scriptures, light is a synonym for life, truth, intelligence, glory and the Lord himself. Those Kirtland saints finally got the message and they would build the temple. In doing so they would find the temple to be a place where all those light synonyms were personified. It would be a holy place where keys were restored, visions given and the glory of the Lord revealed. Why had they not seen it earlier?
Before the Lord had commanded the saints in Kirkland to build a temple he had commanded those living in Independence Missouri to also build a temple (see Sections 57, 63 and 86.) They like their fellow saints in Ohio failed to act straightway on the Lord's commandment. Even though Independence was revealed to be the location of the New Jerusalem the saints were expelled from Independence and eventually all of Missouri. The Lord pointed to their failure to keep his commandments and particularly their failure to build the temple as commanded as the reason that they were expelled.
We might try to guess what reasons the Missouri saints used for failing to build the temple. Whatever it was, they failed to heed the Lord's counsel that if they kept His commandments they would have power to build it. The Lord has given each of us a temple and as we are building our lives we should remember that counsel, "If you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it," because it is applicable today as we try to make our bodies temples to the Lord.
The family of Lehi was another group who suffered storms on the water. When I read the Book of Mormon I wonder how Laman and Lemuel were so dull spiritually. An angel talks to them and a few verses later they don't have the faith to carry out the Lord's commands because Laban was a strong man and one who could command 50 people. Nephi correctly counsels:
1 Nephi 4:1-4
"And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold He is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands? Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea. Now behold ye know that this is true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians. Now when I had spoken these words, they were yet wroth, and did still continue to murmur; nevertheless they did follow me up until we came without the walls of Jerusalem."
What was wrong with Laman and Lemuel? Even in agreeing with Nephi that they had seen an angel and that the Lord had destroyed Pharaoh's armies, they still complained and lacked real commitment and faith.
Why didn't those saints at Joseph Smith's time obey and build the temple? If it were lack of funds, did they not think that the Lord could make up the difference? What about us today? Do we go out in faith to do what we are commanded? Do we keep our commitment here all times? Sometimes we are not so different from Laman and Lemuel.
There is a very important interchange between Nephi and his brothers in the fifteenth chapter of First Nephi. Lehi a few chapters earlier had shared with his family a great vision. Nephi left the family to find a private place to ask to see, hear and know by the power of the Spirit the same things his father had seen. He was granted that blessing. Following this wonderful event, Nephi returned home and was obviously still tender to the things of the Lord. Here he found his brothers arguing about the vision.
1 Ne 15:7-11
"... we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken ... And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us. Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts? Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?--If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you."
Remembering back to Elder Maxwell's quote we see the same elements, faith and personal righteousness arrived at by strict obedience to the Lord's commands qualify us to ask for and receive answers. Laman and Lemuel were not willing to make the commitment of keeping commandments so as they said "the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us."
Living all the commandments can be a daunting task but I know that the Lord expects that very thing from us. There is in obedience, safety and the opportunity to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. That guiding influence can move us safely from the billowing waves.
Elder Legrand Richards retold this familiar story in a conference address several years back. "I remember as a boy sitting in this tabernacle when Wilford Woodruff gave his last talk when he told how marvelously the Spirit of the Lord had guided and directed him. He was a man who really lived near the Lord. Now you've heard his story of how he was inspired to get up in the middle of the night and move his team that was tied to an oak that had stood on that spot for over a hundred years. Then along came a twister and picked up that oak and threw it right where his team and wagon in which he and his wife were sleeping had been standing. If he hadn't listened to the promptings of the Spirit, this might have cost him his life."
The key phrase to me is that "if he hadn't listened to the Spirit it may have cost him his life." That is just as true for you and me as it was for him. The Lord has promised to have His Spirit guide us to safety if we will keep his commandments.
We are regularly invited by TV, movies, Internet and music to compromise our standards. Sometimes those messages are blatant but usually they are subtle. Such invitation to compromise never includes the fine print that would say something like - "viewing this pornography may be hazardous to your spiritual health." Compromises of the commandments of God never invite the Spirit and will in fact leave us unguarded by His Spirit and alone to suffer the consequences of our sins.
When I lived in Texas a member of the stake presidency raised cattle. He said it did not matter where you built your fence, the cattle would come to the fence and push on it. He compared those cattle to members of the Church wanting to get as close as they could to sin without really breaking the commandments. I am afraid that same problem exists everywhere. In fact it is even more prevalent today. What is the concern with this behavior? The problem is that such proximity to sin leaves no margin of safety; sinners rarely sin alone. So when our friends who accompany us to the edge fall, they will invariably want to pull us down with them.
I remember several years back my wife and I were at the White Cliffs of Dover in England. At that time we could drive close to the cliff's edge. We got out of the car and admired the beauty. I wanted to get closer to the edge and watch the sea birds that would catch the updrafts near the sea cliffs and glide out over the water in search of food. My wife would not go too close. But I was so intrigued that I wanted to stand on the very edge to watch. An interesting thing happened to me. Whether it was the wind or the height or something else I felt unsteady as if I was going to fall off the cliff. I quickly retreated a few steps to a place of safety.
When we are on the edge of keeping the commandments, mistakes can be made easily and they can be spiritually fatal. It is much safer to have distance between us and the edge. We should set our limits some distance away from the edge. There may be times when a girlfriend or boyfriend may encourage us closer to that edge than we feel comfortable. Those are times when we should quickly move further away from the edge and perhaps away from those people. Nothing is worth our eternal life, no friend, no popularity and no earthly wealth.
In D&C 101:6-8 the Lord says of those who lived in Missouri and were expelled:
"Behold, I say unto you, there were jarrings, and contentions, and envyings, and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them; therefore by these things they polluted their inheritances. They were slow to hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; therefore, the Lord their God is slow to hearken unto their prayers, to answer them in the day of their trouble. In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but, in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me. The Lord indicates that because of their trials "of necessity they feel after me."
But as they were slow to hearken unto Him and keep his commandments he was slow to answer their prayers. In life we are sometime like this. We forget the Lord and His commandments in favor of so called fun or pleasure. Then, when we suffer our just consequence we want the Lord to immediately rescue us from the pain. Here He indicates that the help for those that have been unfaithful may be slow in coming.
Can you picture yourself on a float tube in this beautiful lake? The sky as you look around is crystal blue, the water is so still it appears to be a mirror and the gentle breeze carries the scent of mountain pine. You cannot imagine a more glorious day. If I were to interrupt your picture and say there are storms on the horizon would you believe me or even want to believe me? You look and see no clouds to indicate a storm is on the way.
But ask anyone that has been on this lake long and they will tell you as I do, storms will come. If you are wise they will not be of your making. Still they will come. The Lord has promised to test and try us. However, the results of those storms are yours to determine. The winds will blow and the waves will crash and you will cry out for help - as you should. If you have prepared yourselves by having faith and by keeping the Lord's commandments, you will survive the storms and come out renewed and refined as did the Prophet Joseph and you will have a similar reward. Those that bring the storms on themselves by their own disobedience will suffer due to that disobedience until they have truly paid the price of their disobedience and repented.
I pray that you will be wise. Keep the commandments; do not attempt to compromise them. Move swiftly away from situations that might cause you to make compromises. Be clean so you are always qualified to receive and understand the promptings of the Holy Spirit when they come and they too will most certainly come if you follow the Lord's directions. The storms of life will pass as they always do. When they are gone if you were prepared and valiant, the storms will have been a defining and refining time and drawn you closer to Your Heavenly Father and Savior. For this I pray.