“There are two kinds of faith. One of them functions
ordinarily in the life of every soul. It is the kind of faith born by
experience; it gives us certainty that a new day will dawn, that spring will
come, that growth will take place. It is the kind of faith that relates us with
confidence to that which is scheduled to happen.
“There is another kind of faith, rare indeed. This is
the kind of faith that causes things to happen. It is the kind of faith that is
worthy and prepared and unyielding, and it calls forth things that otherwise
would not be. It is the kind of faith that moves people.
“It is the kind of faith that sometimes moves things….It
comes by gradual growth. It is a marvelous, even a transcendent power, a power
as real and as invisible as electricity. Direct and channeled, it has great
effect….”
-
Boyd
K. Packer, “What is Faith” in FAITH [1983] p 42-3
For now I walk unsteady steps
On this earthly soil beneath my feet
But one day I will run to You
With perfect faith in waves of deep.
And when in distance Your glory beckons,
When You come to take me home,
I will run into Your arms
And forever be Your own.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Focus On Me, Not the Storm by Brent Borup)
“I have
been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had
nowhere else to go”. – Abraham Lincoln
There comes
a time in life when you know that God is your only answer……for comfort, for
understanding, for help, for healing. I can testify of His efficacy because I
have experienced it in my life. It’s a time when you know nothing and nobody of
this world could come to your rescue and fix what seeks to destroy you. When a
storm so big and so violent and so soul crushing comes into your life, and you
cry out for help, the Saviour comes to do what He alone can do, He comes to
save.
I think of a
great moment in His ministry when Jesus showed His capacity to do so. Whilst preaching
in Capernaum, His fame had spread so far and wide that ‘multitudes from Galilee,
and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan,
and they around Tyre and Sidon’ came unto Him’.
They pressed upon Him to touch Him and ‘even unclean spirits, when they
saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God’(Mark
2:7-11).
So great was
the multitude who were by the sea on the land that the Saviour had to enter a
ship to preach to them (Mark 4:1). When they had dispersed, and evening had
come, the tiredness had overcome Him and He slept through a violent storm. This
is the moment of His humanity that sears my heart. I cannot fathom how intense
that three-year mission was for Him as He traversed the dusty roads of Galilee
and Judea on foot with no doubt little rest.
And this is
the moment when the Saviour showed His saving power. As the storm increased it
became obvious to His disciples that it was beyond their power to control the
vessel they were in. And this is something significant. They were experienced
fishermen who knew how to handle a boat in the storm but they called upon
Jesus, the carpenter.
They
knew that He was the only answer in an unbeatable storm and there was nowhere
else to go. And this is how they knew. When Jesus proclaimed Himself as the
bread of life, many of His followers stopped following Him. When Jesus asked
the Twelve, “Will ye also go away?”, Simon Peter answered: “Lord, to whom shall
we go?.....we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the
living God.” (John 6:66-69)
He
arose and rebuked the roaring winds
and the raging sea.
He,
who with His word
caused
the earth to be,
Spoke
to the Galilean tempest:
“Peace,
be still”.
He
who has all things
under
His command,
Calmed
the troubled sea of dismay
in
the souls of men.
He,
who holds all humanity
in
the palm of His hand,
Caused
the waves of the sea
to
whisper His name.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Coming to Save You by B. Laura Wilson)
If
you are doing well, especially spiritually, there will always be someone who
will in some way try to pull you down or destroy your relationship with God and
the Church that you hold dear to your heart. The adversary will use others to
accomplish this. He never sleeps. I have just been through an experience of
such nature myself. It left me reflecting on the Saviour and how He endured so
much opposition in his earthly life, especially during his three years of
ministry.
There
are also people who will uphold you, believe in you, and build you up. It’s a
gift from above. These are angels sent to ensure your endurance. It always
gives me comfort to reflect on the people who loved the Saviour too.
This is what I see in the Gospel of
John. The most endearing is his account of events prior to Christ’s death. John
records that six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany (John
12:1-3). Why Bethany? Because in Bethany lived Lazarus and his
sisters Mary and Martha. This is where Jesus was loved, comforted, accepted and
believed so Bethany was his place of refuge. The Passover was imminent and it
heralded the beginning of the end.
Imagine with what heavy heart Jesus
came to Lazarus' house for the last time. And imagine what solace He felt as
the woman who anointed Him was Mary, who sat at His feet and hungered for His
words of eternal life. It makes sense that Mary would be the woman who would
anoint Him for his burial (John 12:7). Mary anointed not only his feet but his
head also (Mark 14:3), 'an act of reverential homage rarely rendered even to
kings' (James Talmage, "Jesus The Christ", p 512 ).
Mary spared no expense for the one
she loved for she anointed Him with the costly ointment of spikenard. Lazarus'
family was wealthy and well known to all the Jews in Jerusalem, especially to
the Jewish Council who sought to kill him because Christ raised him from the
dead which caused many of the Jews to believe on Him (John 12:10-11).
And did Lazarus withdraw his
hospitality and shun Jesus because his life was in jeopardy? No, because he
loved Him. So, you see He was in a house of love before He began His
journey to His death. John is the only one who made detailed mention of this
trip to Bethany because I believe it was important to him to record that even
though Christ was despised, bruised and rejected, He was also loved.
The
very jaws of hell were wide open ready to swallow the Christ and prevent Him
from fulfilling His purpose but He never faltered believing in His ability to
see it to the end. What in my mind sealed His determination and commitment was His
unwavering relationship with the Father. He promised and He desired to bring
Him glory.
Remember,
when the devil sends his mighty winds and storms to beat upon you, he shall
have no power to drag you down to the gulf of misery, if you are built upon the
rock which is the Redeemer of your soul (Helaman 5:12). He will ensure you will
have His strength to survive and He will send you His love to protect you.
Your
arms are my shelter,
Your
heart is my home,
My
only hope
For
protection from the storm.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Light of the World by Howard Lyon)
I once had a discussion with a group of friends where a question was asked if we chose our parents in pre-mortal life. Many of them agreed that we didn’t because if we did, we would have all wanted to be born in the Church to goodly parents. I disagreed because I do not believe that we wanted to land on a bed of roses and glide through mortality, otherwise what would have been the point of coming here? I believe we wanted to come to receive further progress and not to languish in worldly ease. We wanted the storms. We wanted storms because we wanted to become big ships at sea and not languish as little boats at the shore.
I get it. Now that we are here, we don’t want the storms. It’s called being human. When we walk out of the baptismal font with hope of a better life, or walk out of the temple freshly wedded to the eternal companion of our choice, we tend to feel that we have made it and are on our way to celestial kingdom. Never in our wildest dreams do we envisage storms that are ahead of us. We do not plan on divorcing when we marry; or plan to bury a child when we enter the labour ward; or schedule chemotherapy when we commit to live the Word of Wisdom. When we commit ourselves to the journey that will take us to eternal life, we often expect, by virtue of our obedience, a smooth ride that will deliver us to the pearly gates. Obedience, however, is not the teacher but the means of arriving at our chosen destination. The teacher is life.
Every opposition in life is meant to teach us something, help us overcome something, or make us rise to heights unknown. It all depends on our response. Will we sink or swim in the face of the storm? The ultimate though is to walk on water. Peter had the chance to learn that when he walked towards the Saviour in the midst of the billowing storm. He couldn’t grasp the lesson back then but I am guessing it didn’t take long after the Master was gone. Peter became so powerful that people brought out their sick into the street in the hope that his shadow would heal them (Acts 5:15). Now THAT is a big ship.
The naked truth is that God will not spare us the discomfort or hardship in this life if it will be for our ultimate good. We placed that trust in Him long ago. He will, however, be there to lift us up when we can’t go on; when the storms of this life seek to swallow us and the winds combine against our strength to break us. He will come in the final hour after we have learnt to trust, accept and seek His help to overcome. He will come. This is exactly why we were not afraid to come to difficult lives. We knew that He would come and empower us to overcome, to endure, to rise. We had faith back then in His capacity, His ability and His integrity. We did not only have faith that He COULD save us, but that He WOULD, at all cost, without fail.
This Christmas may we reflect on the faith that we had in Him long before He was born. May we renew our devotion to the Shepherd who desires to lead us, to love us, to protect us, to honour us, to exalt us. He would have us become our best…..to this end was He born.
How dear to the heart of the Shepherd
Is the flock of His sheep!
With tenderness and love
He watches over those in His keep.
How much do they love their Shepherd!
How closely they stay by His side,
With every footstep they follow
To forever in His care abide.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(ART: He Is My Refuge by Yongsung Kim)
