Keeping Our Sights On The Savior
(Matthew 14:22-33)
My family and I all really enjoy the sport of
wakeboarding. Years ago when I was
learning to jump on a wakeboard, though, I would always seem to find myself
faceplanting in to the water. After many
falls, my dad finally figured out what I was doing wrong. I was looking
in the wrong direction when I jumped. I
would look at the water where I was going to land, which would cause my board
to angle downwards, ending in a faceplant.
To fix this problem I needed to look
forward, and my dad specifically instructed me to look at the boat. By
keeping my eyes forward and looking at the boat, I was able to keep my board on
the right path in the air, reach higher heights, and have smoother landings.
I would like to compare my experience to that of one the
apostle Peter had in the New Testament.
Christ’s disciples had set out on a journey across the Sea of
Galilee. It was dark and a storm was
coming on. As the storm got worse, the
disciples fear grew and they felt like some of us do at times – the ocean so large and our boats so
small. But amidst the raging storm,
the disciples looked and they saw Jesus Christ walking towards them on the
water.
At this sight Peter asked, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come
unto thee on the water.”
And Christ answered him, like
he does to us all, “Come.”
Peter entered the stormy waters with his sights on the
Savior. While he kept his sights on the
Savior, the wind might blow him and the waves might splash him, but he would
still be safe. But when he took his
sights off the Savior and worried about the “boisterous winds” and the rolling
waves, he began to sink. All of us will,
at times, experience storms in our lives, and so, if we keep our sights on the
Savior during these storms they will be calmed and made lighter.
Just like when I was wakeboarding and would take my sights
off the boat and look at the water, I would fall; Peter, when he took his sights
off the Savior, would begin to sink. So
keep your sights on the Savior and don’t sink.
When we follow Christ and the amazing example He has set for
us, we can become more like Him. This
will not only bless your own life,
but it will also bless the lives of those around you. You will be filled with
Christ-like love and have a desire to serve those around you. You will feel the joy that Ammon did in the
Book of Mormon when you become “an instrument in the hands of God” to help
bless others and “bring about His great work”.
When this happens, His will becomes your will – and that is
something we should all strive for.
Following Christ begins with faith.
I read an article recently that really touched me. An excerpt from it reads: "Life was meant to be challenging. It was meant to create a desire in us to seek something better. For there is something better. And, despite all the loud noise of the world and all of it's solutions to our ills, there is a better way of life, even while we are here...but it is not from the world, it is from God."
Our heavenly father has given us challenges and trials in
this life for our learning and growth and that we may gain and exercise faith
in Him.
In Mark chapter 5, it tells of a woman who has suffered an
issue of blood for 12 years. When Jesus
walks by her in the streets she touches his garment in hopes of being
healed. And when Jesus feels this he
turns and asks “who touched my clothes…and he looked round about to see her
that had done this thing… and he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee
whole.”
We too can be made whole through faith in the Savior and His
infinite atonement.
Paul said that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.” He also counseled “that Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith; that ye; being rooted and grounded in love, may be able
to comprehend…and to know the love of Christ.” And that is why I am serving a
mission! To help others know the love Christ has for them.
EVERYONE will feel
of this love when they come unto Christ and follow Him in faith.
This love will give us comfort and guide us in this life.
Another part of keeping our sights on the Savior is something
we just heard in the sacrament prayers, which is that we will always remember
Him. Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the
latter-day quorum of the 12 apostles illustrates how and why we should remember
the Savior in his 1988 General Conference talk “Always Remember Him”.
In his address, Elder Oaks explains that we have our Earthly
parents, who gave us life, and we remember them often and we also have all had
teachers who have taught us everything we know and we remember them when we
think back to our educations, and finally he explains that we have doctors that
save us from illness, injury, and sometimes death. If somebody saved your life, such as a
doctor, I’m sure you would remember them and keep their name in high esteem for
the rest of your life!
That is the point that Elder Oaks is making. Jesus Christ did all of these things and
more! Elder Oaks states,
(And I quote) “He gave us life in the beginning of this
world, and through the power of His resurrection he will give each of us life
again after we have died in mortality.
Jesus Christ is the life of the world.
He is our Redeemer.
According to the Father’s plan, he provided the atoning sacrifice…and
came to earth and shed his blood for the remission of our sins.
Our Creator and our Redeemer is also our teacher. He taught us how to live. He gave us commandments, and if we follow
them, we will receive blessings and happiness.
And so we see that He
whom we should always remember is He who gave us mortal life, He who showed us
the way to a happy life, and He who redeems us so we can live again.” (End
quote)
As we can see from Elder Oaks message, Jesus Christ has done
so much for us and He, above anything, or anyone, else is where we should look
for peace and guidance.
Jesus Christ wants us to follow Him. He is perfect and came here to set an example
for us.
President Howard W. Hunter, one of the Lord’s modern-day
prophets stated, “It is my firm belief that if as individual people, as
families, communities, and nations, we could, like Peter, fix our eyes on
Jesus, we too might walk triumphantly over “the swelling waves of disbelief”
and remain “unterrified amid the rising winds of doubt.” But if we turn away our eyes from Him in whom
we must believe, as it is easy to do and the world is so much tempted to do, if
we look to the power and fury of those terrible and destructive elements around
us rather than to Him who can help and save us, then we shall inevitably sink
in a sea of conflict and sorrow and despair.
At such times when we feel the floods are threatening to
drown us and the deep is going to swallow up the tossed vessel of our faith, I
pray we may always hear amid the storm and the darkness that sweet utterance of
the Savior of the world: … “Be of good cheer, it is I; be not
afraid.”
Good cheer is exactly what we will have when we come unto
Christ. When we focus on our Savior and
no the “boisterous winds” around us, we will, in a way, walk on water.
Now I said I would come back to my mission reassignment. I was originally called to serve in the
Botswana/Namibia Mission, but after 3 months, and with only a month until my
departure date, I got a call that told me I could not get a visa and that I was
no longer going to Botswana and that I would get a new mission call – again, to
anywhere in the world. This news really
rocked my world. I had to go through all
the anxiousness again and it was hard for me to understand. But by trusting in the Lord and praying to
Him, I gained a peace about the matter and the Lord blessed me with a
reassignment to the Zambia Lusaka Mission – the mission right next door to
Botswana. Through this experience I felt
God’s love and I know that He is mindful of me, as He is of all of you as well.
I know God loves me and you, brothers and sisters! He sent
His Son to die for us so that we may live again! What great news that is. I can’t wait to help change lives with this
great news!
