Obedient and Prepared

I was grateful to be able to listen to President Monson speak in general conference this weekend.  He did not speak for long, but he told a short story about a man named John Larsen who in WWII was rescued from an island and found himself climbing a long rope from the sea up to the deck of a ship.  He made it about a third of the way up and realized that he did not have the strength to make it all the way to the top.  If he could not make it he knew he would fall into the ocean and be lost.  He cried out to God, telling Him that he had always kept the Word of Wisdom and desperately needed the blessing of strength promised from keeping that commandment.  After that prayer he had a surge of strength and easily climbed the rest of the length of the rope without tiring.  He had claimed the blessings and help of heaven through his obedience and faith. 

                This story of course reminded me of the story from the last Priesthood session when, in an equally short talk, President Monson related another experience from WWII.  He told of a friend of his who was shot down with others in the ocean and floated for three days in their life raft.  A rescue vessel came nearby twice but did not see them.  President Monson related: “They began to despair as they realized that this was the last day the rescue vessel would be in the area.  Then the Holy Spirit spoke to my friend: ‘You have the priesthood. Command the rescuers to pick you up.’  He did as prompted: ‘In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of the priesthood, turn about and pick us up.’  Within a few minutes the vessel was beside them, helping them on deck. A faithful and worthy bearer of the priesthood, in his extremity, had exercised that priesthood, blessing his life and the lives of others.”  Again the man had been saved because of both his obedience—for he was worthy to call upon the power of the Priesthood—and his faith in the Lord’s ability to save him. 

                So why would he tell these two rather dramatic WWI stories in back-to-back conferences?  I have to think that part of his message to us is that we need to be prepared to perform those kind of miracles in the future.  The coming years will surely bring global and personal challenges as difficult as those seen in WWII, and we must be prepared to exercise our faith in the Lord to claim the blessings and power He has to help us.  As President Monson said, “May we determine, here and now, ever to be prepared for our time of need, our time of service, our time of blessing.”  His message seems to be that of Joshua’s of old: “Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you” (Joshua 3:5).  We need to be ready to call down the powers of heaven in the trying times we will certainly face in the future.  Perhaps we could summarize it with these words of the Doctrine and Covenants: “Prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts,” counsel given by the Lord so that we may “escape the wrath of God, the desolation of abomination which awaits the wicked” in the winding up scene before the Second Coming of the Savior (D&C 88:74, 85).