Harkness Swimming Help!

Sister Lisa L. Harkness shared this story in General Conference:

"When our children were young, our family spent a few days at a beautiful lake. One afternoon some of the children put on life jackets before jumping off a deck and into the water. Our youngest daughter watched with hesitation, carefully observing her siblings. With all the courage she could muster, she plugged her nose with one hand and jumped. She immediately popped up and with a bit of panic in her voice yelled, “Help me! Help me!”

Now, she was not in any mortal danger; her life jacket was doing its job, and she was floating safely. We could have reached out and pulled her back on the deck with little effort. Yet from her perspective, she needed help. Perhaps it was the chill of the water or the newness of the experience. In any case, she climbed back onto the deck, where we wrapped her in a dry towel and complimented her on her bravery.

Whether we are old or young, many of us have, in moments of distress, uttered with urgency words such as “Help me!” “Save me!” or “Please, answer my prayer!”

Just like she was watching her daughter carefully and knew that her daughter was safe,  we have a loving Heavenly Father who is watching over us and making sure that we are safe.  We may feel we are in grave danger (and at times we may even be in danger), but we are never left alone.  Our flailing and panic do little to solve the problem but our trust that God has a plan and is ever near can help us feel peace even in the midst of difficulty.  I love Sister Harkness' reminder that when the disciples were on a storm-tossed sea and cried out in fear, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?"...Jesus was in the boat.  Whatever storm we are facing, Jesus is there in the boat.  

Rio Grange (from Work and Wonder on Instagram) compared this to her husband teaching her daughter to ride a bike.  He'd be right behind her, holding onto the seat but because she was scared and she was looking forward, she would get angry and wonder why he wasn't helping her more. And eventually, he needed to let go and let her try to find her balance without him helping or she'd never learn to ride independently.  Sometimes we are like her daughter or Sister Harkness' daughter...God knows we're capable of ______________ (swimming, riding a bike, serving in a calling, making it through an illness, healing a relationship, etc., etc., etc.) and because He loves us and wants us to grow He allows us to struggle a little bit (or even what feels like to us a LOT) but He's right there to catch us when we fall and He knows exactly what we are capable of and needs us to know it also.

LESSONS LEARNED:  We are never alone.

God knows what we're capable of.

Jesus is in the boat with us.

Sometimes we WILL feel alone so that we can learn what we're capable of.