I want you to imagine a great ship. Not a modern day ship with all the equipment. Maybe a ship from the time of Christ or Noah. You are standing on the shore and you see that you are surrounded by all your loved ones. You are then given the assignment to be the captain of the ship and to be in charge of getting all of your loved ones across the ocean. The problem is that you have no knowledge or experience of how to accomplish this. How would you feel? A little afraid maybe? Now imagine that you are told that there will be an expert aboard the ship that knows everything and will be there to help you and teach you as you travel. You will also have a map and everyone on the ship will have assignments to help. The ship has many sails. When the wind blows you lift the sails to catch the wind and push you forward. The more sails that are up the faster you will reach your destination. However, the process of lifting the sails is too much for just one person. Many people have to help pull the ropes for the various sails to be unfurled in the wind. Sometimes there will be storms and raging waves that must be battled, but if everyone helps, you will all make it safely.
Christ is the expert aboard our own personal ship. He has already shown us the way to live by His example. We have a map to follow in the scriptures. The sails are like prayers that can catch the wind of the Spirit to help move us in the right direction. Having the prayers of others can add strength. The wind is the Spirit guiding us where we need to go. We will all face the waves and storms of trials in our lives, but we can make it through when we look to Heavenly Father and our loved ones for strength and support.
