Following Jesus' feeding of the five thousand, the
apostles boarded a boat and started across the Sea of Galilee while Jesus went
into the mountains to pray. As they were crossing, the sea became "tossed
with waves: for the wind was contrary" (Matthew 14:24). In the midst of
this peril and their ensuing fright, the apostles saw Jesus walking on the
water towards them. Jesus said, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not
afraid" (Matthew 14:27). Upon recognizing Jesus, Peter said, "Lord,
if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water" (Matthew 14:28). Jesus
beckoned Peter to come to Him and Peter stepped out of the boat and briefly
walked towards Jesus. But soon the "boisterous" waves frightened
Peter. In the midst of the ferocious storm, Peter's doubt overcame his faith
and he began to sink. He cried out, "Lord, save me" (Matthew 14:30).
"And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, caught him, and said unto
him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (Matthew 14:32).
I wonder whether, when Peter saw a wave come crashing towards him, he looked
back at the boat rather than staying focused on the Savior and thought that it
was safer in the boat than walking towards Jesus. Did his doubt cause him to
lose focus on the Savior?
Storms are a part of life's experience and moments
of doubt may not be uncommon during such times. For me, the question is not
whether I will experience such periods, but what I do during those times. Doubt
must not snuff out my faith. I must carefully nurture my faith or doubt will
grow and may cause me to lose focus on the one Person who can rescue me. Just
like Peter I need to turn to the Savior saying, "Lord, save me”.
The faith to endure does not come as a single event.
Rather it grows day by day as we nurture and nourish it. Alma compared growing
our faith to the act of planting a seed. He said, "Now, we will compare
the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your
heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out
by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will
begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions,
ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good
seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it
beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to
me" (Alma 32:28). I believe he phrase “if ye do not cast it out by your
unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord" provides an
interesting insight into faith. While I don't presume to know precisely what
Alma meant, to me it says that doubt is not uncommon in the process of growing
my faith, but I must not allow doubt to prevent the seed of faith from
germinating and I must be careful not to allow the poison of doubt to stunt the
growth or kill the plant. Faith requires constant nourishment and protection.
My experience is that as I continue to nourish my faith through study, prayer,
and obedience during those moments of doubt my faith becomes stronger.
The tender account of the Savior healing a child
afflicted with an evil spirit provides additional insight in protecting faith
from doubt. In retelling this story, Elder Jeffery R. Holland said,
"On one occasion
Jesus came upon a group arguing vehemently with His disciples. When the Savior
inquired as to the cause of this contention, the father of an afflicted child
stepped forward, saying he had approached Jesus’s disciples for a blessing for
his son, but they were not able to provide it. With the boy still gnashing his
teeth, foaming from the mouth, and thrashing on the ground in front of them,
the father appealed to Jesus with what must have been last-resort desperation
in his voice:
'If thou canst do
any thing,” he said, 'have compassion on us, and help us.
'Jesus said unto
him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
'And straightway
the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help
thou mine unbelief' [Mark 9:14-21 and 22-24].
"This man’s
initial conviction, by his own admission, is limited. But he has an urgent,
emphatic desire in behalf of his only child. We are told that is good enough
for a beginning. 'Even if ye can no more than desire to believe,' Alma
declares, 'let this desire work in you, even until ye believe' [Alma 32:27].
With no other hope remaining, this father asserts what faith he has and pleads
with the Savior of the world, 'If thou canst do anything, have compassion on
us, and help us'' [Mark 9:22]. I can hardly read those words without weeping.
The plural pronoun us is obviously used intentionally. This man is saying, in
effect, 'Our whole family is pleading. Our struggle never ceases. We are
exhausted. Our son falls into the water. He falls into the fire. He is
continually in danger, and we are continually afraid. We don’t know where else
to turn. Can you help us? We will be grateful for anything—a partial blessing,
a glimmer of hope, some small lifting of the burden carried by this boy’s
mother every day of her life.'
“If thou canst do any
thing,' spoken by the father, comes back to him 'If thou canst believe,' spoken
by the Master [Mark 9:22].
“Straightway,' the
scripture says—not slowly nor skeptically nor cynically but 'straightway'—the
father cries out in his unvarnished parental pain, 'Lord, I believe; help thou
mine unbelief.' In response to new and still partial faith, Jesus heals the
boy, almost literally raising him from the dead, as Mark describes the incident
[Mark 9:24-27]. (Jeffery R. Holland, "Lord, I Believe," Ensign, May
2013)
Those words, "Lord, I believe; help though mine
unbelief" is a plea that applies to all of us at one time or another.
Elder Holland shared the following three observations about this account:
“Observation number one
regarding this account is that when facing the challenge of faith, the father
asserts his strength first and only then acknowledges his limitation. His initial
declaration is affirmative and without hesitation: 'Lord, I believe.' I would
say to all who wish for more faith, remember this man! In moments of fear or
doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that
ground is limited. In the growth we all have to experience in mortality, the
spiritual equivalent of this boy’s affliction or this parent’s desperation is
going to come to all of us. When those moments come and issues surface, the
resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you
already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes. It was of this
very incident, this specific miracle, that Jesus said, 'If ye have faith as a
grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder
place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you' [Matthew
17:20]. The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the
issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the
truth you already know.
"The second
observation is a variation of the first. When problems come and questions
arise, do not start your quest for faith by saying how much you do not have,
leading as it were with your 'unbelief.' That is like trying to stuff a turkey through
the beak! Let me be clear on this point: I am not asking you to pretend to
faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have.
Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation
of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith. It is not! So let us
all remember the clear message of this scriptural account: Be as candid about
your questions as you need to be; life is full of them on one subject or
another. But if you and your family want to be healed, don’t let those
questions stand in the way of faith working its miracle...
"Last observation:
When doubt or difficulty come, do not be afraid to ask for help. If we want it
as humbly and honestly as this father did, we can get it. The scriptures phrase
such earnest desire as being of 'real intent,' pursued 'with full purpose of
heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God' [2 Nephi 31:13]. I testify that in response to that kind of
importuning, God will send help from both sides of the veil to strengthen our
belief.” (Jeffery R. Holland, "Lord, I Believe," Ensign, May 2013)
I add a fourth observation about this account. The
father did not ask "why did God do this to my son" or "why did
God let this happen." These questions challenge God, fuel unbelief, and
don't build understanding. Contrast these questions to asking "help me
understand why this is happening". Such a pleas is not a challenge to God but a faithful request to
seek understanding. Such understanding
will strengthen our faith.
Carefully nurture, nourish, and grow your faith.
Faith in Christ and His Atonement will sustain us and rescue us from the
storms, whether minor or boisterous, of life.
