Week 16- “Ships are safest in the harbor,
but that’s not what ships are for”

Scriptures:

Joshua 10

1 Ne 7

Mosiah 9:17

1 Samuel 17

Mosiah 3:19

General Conference Address:  

“To The Rescue: We Can Do It” Elder Mervyn Arnold CR 4/1016

Thought:

Ships are marvels.  The bigger the ship, the more impressive and marvelous.  Just think about finding a way to make heavy steel buoyant.  It’s amazing.  They should just sink, shouldn't they? We’re like that, too.  Our natural man should cause us to be the laziest, most depraved and unproductive, unhealthy, and unhelpful creatures on the earth.  Smart enough to survive but dumb enough to indulge ourselves until we make ourselves sick.  It’s crazy.  But we’re more than that.  We have natural man urges, sure, but we also have something divine within us that drives us to strive for something more.  So it is with ships.  With a proper understanding of physics and laws, we can take tons of negatively buoyant steel and make it float.  More than that, we can make it productive, even luxurious.  Fortunes and memories can be made with them.  Lives can be saved by deploying them.  They can be made amazing.  So can we.  And, we, like ships, will have to sail into waters that make us scared and test our resolve.  A cost guard rescue ship does just fine in a harbor.  It could last there for years. But that’s not what it was built to do.  It’s built to go out in the ugliest storms to save the helpless.  So are we.  Of course, we feel safe at home in bed or in front of the TV.  Life is protected and comfortable when we’ve got our earbuds in and scrolling through Facebook.  But we’re built for more than that.  Countless souls need our help.  Help we can only offer by going into the dark, stormy night on troubled and even dangerous waters and rescuing our fellow travelers.  It’s okay to enjoy our time in the harbor.  We need to refuel, get more supplies, and maintain family relationships.  We just can’t help as much when we stay there. So enjoy comfort and rest, and rejuvenation.  But don’t inhale it!  Get back out there and resume the rescue mission! Too many of our brothers and sisters are treading cold, unforgiving water and are praying for a miracle.  Be that miracle.   

Invitation: 

 Stay engaged in the work.  Save as many as you can.  Rest when you must, but don’t make it your goal.  Rest so that you can be more effective on your rescue mission.