God Is at the Helm

General Conference is an incredible creation. For those who don't know general conference is when the living prophet and apostles speak to the world about things that our Heavenly Father has inspired them to talk to us about. It is on tv, internet, and radio. Anyone can watch or listen to it. It's also nice for people like me that have little kids and it's really hard to hear or sit long enough because of my 3 little boys being boys that they have videos of all the talks and print outs of all the talks to read afterward.

As I am slowly reading through the talks since I missed most of them while they were airing I have come across a couple in particular that I really enjoy. One is "God Is at the Helm" by Elder M. Russell Ballard who is an apostle of God. In a previous talk Elder Ballard gave he talked about being on the Old Ship Zion which is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints. This time he continued on that talk. He quoted a previous president of the church, President Brigham Young, "We are on the old ship Zion...God is at the helm and will stay there...He dictates, guides, and directs. If the people will have implicit confidence in their God, never forsake covenants nor their God, He will guide us right." To me this is an amazing analogy. God is directing our life. We have to trust in Him and follow Him, and He will guide us to exaltation. 

Elder Ballard continues in saying, "Our ship's destination is the full blessings of the gospel, the kingdom of heaven, the celestial glory, and the presence of God! God's plan is in the place. He is at the helm, and His great and powerful ship flows toward salvation and exaltation. Remember that we cannot get there by jumping out of the boat and trying to swim there by ourselves. Exaltation is the goal of the mortal journey, and no one gets there without the means of the gospel of Jesus Christ: His Atonement, the ordinances, and guiding doctrine and principles that are found in the Church. It is the Church wherein we learn the works of God and accept the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that saves us. It is within the Church that we form the commitments and covenants of eternal families that become our passport to exaltation. It is the Church that is powered by the priesthood to propel us through the unpredictable waters of mortality."

This is the ship that I want to be on. This is where I want to go.  It's not always easy. It's important that we remember that we can't as he said "get there by jumping out of the boat and trying to swim." We cannot get to where we need to go by ourselves. We need help. We need to do the things we are supposed to and follow God to get where we need to be. It may not always be easy, but it will definitely be worth it.