The boat will rock, but have no fear!

Have you ever been on a boat in the middle of a lake, ocean, or river when the weather conditions were terrible? If you have, can you recall the feelings you had at that moment? I know I have been boating while weather conditions were cloudy and the water had erupted with large waves. My feelings at this time could be summarized under the term "frightened." This week in class I feel I connected to the lectures more than ever. This week we covered my all-time favorite story found in the New Testament. The story is found in Mark 4: 37-41. This tells of when Christ calms the stormy sea with the simple phrase "peace, be still."

I have always read this with great curiosity towards the disciples. Christ’s disciples are in this boat with the Savior after a long day. The Savior must have been extremely tired and fell asleep. Shortly after a storm occurred. As I read this story i notice that as the great storm started the waves started to become so monstrous that the boat actually started to fill up with water to the point that it started to sink. What i notice is the disciples seem to have waited till the absolute last moment possible to ask for help. The boat had started to sink before they called upon the master to help them. And when they finally ask for help they do so by crying out "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (4:38) Immediately the Savior rises and simply says to the sea "Peace be still" (4:39)  After this the Savior gently but firmly questions why these men were so afraid? Where was their faith?

There are so many things we can take from this lesson, so many things that I personally take from this lesson and relate to. In this life we will have our storms. It is just something that will happen. The Savior has the ability to not only calm those storms but the storms that rage inside us. All of our fears, insecurities, stress; our Savior can calm them. And He does. I know he does. I have felt so many times His love for me in the feeling of peace that falls upon me when all seems to be going wrong. However unless we call upon Him as soon as we start to struggle He can't help us as easily. We have to call upon Him always instead of just waiting around until we are waist deep in trials.

When Jesus Christ said "Peace be still" he wasn't only saying it to the raging sea; He was telling this to His disciples, His friends. He knew that they were frightened and He wanted to bring them peace.

But one thing I think we should consider is this: why were these men afraid? His disciples spent more time with Him than anyone on earth. They should've known what manner of man He was. Then why were they so scared that they were going to perish? They had the Son of God on the ship, the Savior. Yet they allowed fear and doubt to creep in when the waves and storm got to be too much. I believe we all are the same way. The world gets extremely scary. Sometimes the fears and doubts from our personal storms get too close. They become to be something that seems to be drowning us. But if we are in the "Savior's boat" we will not sink. We need to keep close to the Savior by following Heavenly Fathers will, obeying the commandments, drawing closer to the Savior, and allowing the Spirit into our lives so that we can have the Savior there to "calm our seas" every time we need Him.

I know that our Savior lives. I can't see Him or my Heavenly Father. But I know that there is someone there that cares so much about each of us. I know that if we call upon Him in our time of need He has the ability to comfort us by bringing us peace. And i am so grateful for that every day.