God Is at the Helm

What is on the old ship Zion (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) that we can hold onto?

The apostles of Christ.
The plan of salvation.
Heavenly Father created male and female in order to participate in bringing His children into mortality.
Observe the Sabbath day.

Some of my family and others … have asked me this question: “What’s in the Old Ship Zion that we should hang on to?” I reminded them of what President Brigham Young said: “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 their covenants nor their God, He will guide us right.”

Having implicit confidence means that our confidence doesn’t wane when we have not yet received confirmation on some piece of counsel or direction.

The Church of Jesus Christ has always been led by living prophets and apostles. Though mortal and subject to human imperfection, the Lord’s servants are inspired to help us avoid obstacles that are spiritually life threatening and to help us pass safely through mortality to our final, ultimate, heavenly destination. …

And make no mistake about it: the Lord directs His Church through living prophets and apostles. This is the way He has always done His work. Indeed, the Savior taught, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me.” We cannot separate Christ from His servants. Without His first Apostles, we would not have an eyewitness account of many of His teachings, His ministry, His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His death on the cross. Without their testimonies, we would not have an apostolic witness of the empty tomb and the Resurrection.

Apostasy only comes after someone decides that church leaders aren’t inspired or else that they openly refuse to believe in or follow God.

It has always been a challenge for the world to accept living prophets and apostles, but it is so essential to do so in order to fully understand the Atonement and the teachings of Jesus Christ and to receive a fulness of the blessings of the priesthood that are given to those He has called.

Too many people think Church leaders and members should be perfect or nearly perfect. They forget that the Lord’s grace is sufficient to accomplish His work through mortals. Our leaders have the best intentions, but sometimes we make mistakes. This is not unique to Church relationships, as the same thing occurs in our relationships among friends, neighbors, and workplace associates and even between spouses and in families.

Looking for human weakness in others is rather easy. However, we make a serious mistake by noticing only the human nature of one another and then failing to see God’s hand working through those He has called.

Focusing on how the Lord inspires His chosen leaders and how He moves the Saints to do remarkable and extraordinary things despite their humanity is one way that we hold on to the gospel of Jesus Christ and stay safely aboard the Old Ship Zion.

We can focus on our mortal perspective or we can seek to see the eternal perspective.

A second truth is the doctrine of the plan of salvation. Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, God gave the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and many additional teachings to the Church. These include a knowledge of the plan of salvation, which is a map of where we came from, our purpose here on earth, and where we are going when we die. The plan also provides us with a unique, eternal perspective that we are God’s spirit children. By understanding who our Heavenly Father is and our relationship to Him and to His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, we will accept Their commandments and make covenants with Them that will lead us back into Their eternal presence.

Another key truth in the Church is that Heavenly Father created Adam and Eve for a lofty purpose. It was their charge—and, subsequently, the charge of their posterity—to create mortal bodies for God’s spirit children so they could experience mortality. By this process, Heavenly Father sends His spirit children to earth to learn and grow through the experiences of earth life. Because He loves His children, God sends heavenly messengers and Apostles to teach them about Jesus Christ’s central role as our Savior.

The spirit of worship should permeate our monthly fast and testimony meetings. This sacrament meeting is for members to briefly express gratitude, love, and appreciation for our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the restored gospel and to bear personal witness of these things. Fast and testimony meeting is a time to share brief inspirational thoughts and bear solemn testimony. It is not a time to give a speech.

Young children should practice sharing their testimonies in Primary and with their parents in family home evening gatherings until they understand the important meaning of a testimony.

We should be careful of how we use time at the microphone in fast and testimony meeting. Children should be practicing their testimonies in less formal settings before they take that precious time to say whatever comes into their heads.

Now, as we ponder just these few truths that exist within the Old Ship Zion, let us stay on board and remember that, by definition, a ship is a vehicle, and the purpose of a vehicle is to take us to a destination.

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 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 this mortal journey, and no one gets there without the means of the gospel of Jesus Christ: His Atonement, the ordinances, and the 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.