Faith for Safety

The principle that I want to talk about in this post is the idea that our salvation is dependent on our faith in Christ. Without looking only to Christ we cannot be safe and we cannot make it home to him again. We must take direction from him and look to none else. To illustrate this let’s look at Christ’s ministry.

In Matthew 14 :22-33 we find Christ sending his disciples ahead of him onto a ship. They leave without him and soon are surrounded by a storm. Christ approaches, walking across the water toward the besieged ship. He calls to the ship and Peter responds with a plea for Christ to call him to join Him on the water. Christ does and as Peter descends from the ship onto the water, but as he walks the winds blow and he becomes afraid. As his fear increases he sinks where once he had stood. He called to the Lord, who reached out His hand to steady the apostle. Peter again finds firm footing on the water and stand with Christ. Then Christ asks, “wherefore didst thou doubt?”

Peter’s faith that Christ would keep him above the water was enough to get him to leave the relative safety of the ship and to walk on the water. As he let his faith wander and be replaced with distractions, in this case fear and doubt, he began to sink. He began to struggle.  He lost his footing. It was only through returning to Christ and trusting in his grasp that Peter was able to stand firm on the water.

This is the same for us. While we may not find ourselves needing to stand on the surface of a stormy sea, many of us have felt that we are treading water or barely keeping from drowning in our demanding lives. I know that I have. It is often when I think that I can do things on my own or when I simply forget to ask for help that I struggle the most. As I keep trying to move forward, trusting that Christ will make it so that things work out, I find peace in my life.
 

My life is not easy. I am a widow and a single mother to a preschooler and a toddler at 24 years old. It’s fair to say that I have had my struggles. I have found the words in Doctrine and Covenants section 88: 67 to be so very true: “And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.” As I have looked to Christ to guide me and provide for me, I have found that I am able to understand what I need to do and how to do it. I have found that I am better able to find meaning in the things in my life.

Faith is the key. Without faith in Him each step we take lets us sink farther and farther into the sea. Each step without faith gets us that much more below the water. As with Peter, only looking to Christ to be our salvation can we find safety.