In Times of Trouble; Let Us Run To The Right Place!

TheDiscipleMD

I don’t remember how old I was, but I couldn’t have been more than seven or eight when I awoke late one night and imagined that the doorknob to my room was turning back and forth. At the time, I happened to be sleeping in a room with my brother that had two doors, one each on opposite sides of the room. I felt my eyes grow wide and I could hear my heart pounding as I saw that doorknob move back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I was so scared! I knew that someone or something was on the other side of that door and that it was going to do me harm! I dared not move. I never once thought of the safety of my brother who was sleeping in the other bed. No, I was totally consumed with the thought of escaping through the other door. The other door led to the hallway, which led to the safety of my parent’s room. Dare I, I thought, risk it? My head was pounding and my heart was beating uncontrollably when I leaped out of my bed and made a mad dash of it. I just knew “it” was going to get me. I quickly opened the “safe” door, and raced down the hallway with “it” close behind me. Somehow I made it to my parents’ room where I knelt by my mother’s bedside. There I pleaded with my delirious Mother for protection by letting me get into her bed. My groggy Mom opened the covers and let me in. I quickly fell fast  asleep. I had escaped the “boogieman”! Now, all these years later, I can still remember the emotion I felt as I imagined that doorknob moving. Never mind that it didn’t make sense that someone would stand outside the door, turning it, back and forth. For a little boy, the terror of that night was real! The lesson I remembered from that night was that, when in time of trouble, you better know where to run to find safety. I had run to the right place! I had run to the safety of my parent’s arms.

I am reminded that this life is full of “doorknobs” that move and sounds that go “bump” in the night. Throughout life we will face challenges that will be frightening and daunting. Maybe even scary! But we should know to whom we should run! In 2002, Elder Lance Wickman of the Seventy gave an inspiring talk entitled, “But, If Not.” In it he said:

“It is common in our secular world to say that “seeing is believing.” Whatever value this little maxim may have in the mundane affairs of life, it is an alien presence when we turn to the Lord in the dark hour of our extremity. The way of the Lord is best defined by a different maxim: “Believing is seeing.” Faith in the Lord is the premise, not the conclusion. We know He lives; therefore, we trust Him to bless us according to His divine will and wisdom. This childlike confidence in the Lord is known in scripture simply as the “sacrifice” of “a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” (D&C 59:8).

I was always impressed with the response of Peter to the Savior recorded in the sixth chapter of John after the Savior had preached “hard” doctrine regarding being a true follower:

” Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?…For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him… From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (vs 60, 61, 64-68).

We must be childlike in “running” to the Savior in our most extreme moments! We too must submit ourselves and say, “Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” This can be hard when trials fall upon us, but it is the right thing to do. I ran as a little boy that night so long ago, from fear to peace. So too, as adults, we should know to whom to go when faced with real life fears. It is the Savior! He will offer comfort and peace in our most trying times. He will provide us with protection from the fears found in this life. In His arms we will find safety!

 

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