Passing Through the Storms

We have a few accounts of people crossing a large body of water in dangerous circumstances in the scriptures.  What helped them to make it safely across?  In the account of Lehi’s family, it was clearly obedience that protected and guided them.  It appears that the Liahona guided them so that they would avoid the storms.  As soon as Laman and Lemuel tied Nephi up, “the compass, which had been prepared of the Lord, did cease to work.”  Because “they knew not whither they should steer the ship” they went into a “great and terrible tempest” (1 Nephi 18:12-13).  It wasn’t until they untied Nephi that the compass worked again and they were saved.  It was their “faith and diligence and heed” which they gave unto the compass that protected them and ultimately allowed then to make it safely to the promised land (1 Nephi 16:28).  In the story of the brother of Jared and his family, they also had dangers on the water to face, but the way the Lord protected them was different.  Instead of guiding them to avoid the “great and terrible tempests,” they were protected because they were in vessels that were “tight like unto a dish” (Ether 6:7).  They went straight through the storms, but because they had properly prepared their vessels according to the Lord’s instructions, the storms could not harm them.  We also have a couple of stories in the Gospels when the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee in difficult conditions.  On one occasion “there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.”  Afraid of being destroyed at sea, they awoke Jesus saying, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Jesus then rebuked the storm and said, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:37-38)  So the lesson here is that if we indeed have to pass through the storm, our best protection is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Sometimes the Lord will guide us through our obedience to simply avoid the storms; sometimes the Lord will help us build our own protection to pass through dangerous circumstances; and sometimes we will simply need to face the difficulties head on and put our faith in the Lord to help us through when the going gets rough.