Safe in the Storm

By Lauren Madsen

In thinking about a topic to write about, I asked my fourteen year old to tell me something about her temple visits. She quickly replied, “I think that one of my most memorable temple trips was a few weeks ago when we drove into a big, black storm just to get there!” I remember that night as well—my older daughter and I were home and could hear the wind rattling things around outside. We ran to the window, pulled up the blinds, and hugged each other while we watched the wind rip through our trees and toss loose items around our backyard. Worried about all the potential for serious damage, we prayed for our home, our fence, and our trees. 

One thing I didn’t worry about that night was our fourteen year old. I could see on my cell phone location tracker that she had arrived at the temple and was safely inside. I wondered if those who were in the temple would even know about the intense storm outside. The walls of the temple are thick and solid and I imagined that those inside were going about their business blissfully unaware of the heavy winds and rain. 

After talking to my daughter about this experience, I had a dream about a storm. Though upon waking some of the details were a bit fuzzy, I did remember that there was a group of people outside a large building, all of them trying unsuccessfully to walk toward it. The ground was wet and slippery, and the wind blew so powerfully that every person was being pushed backward, slipping and sliding away from their goal. The entire scene left me feeling uneasy and unsettled. These people seemed completely unprepared and unable to do anything to get themselves to safety. 

As I contrasted the peace I felt knowing my daughter was safe inside the temple with the uncomfortable feeling of seeing people caught in a wild deluge of water and wind, I was filled with gratitude. I realized that without the ordinances and blessings of the temple made possible by Jesus Christ, I would look like the people in my dream. Frantic. Afraid. Without hope. 

It is a choice we must make everyday: Am I going to do this with the Savior or am I going to do it on my own? Is my spiritual safety important to me? If so, what am I going to do about it?

Joseph B. Wirthlin taught, “In our own storms in life, the Savior is our solace and our sanctuary. If we seek peace, we must come unto Him.” He is always there, but we have to choose Him. When we do, we can say as Paul did in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”

In these last days it feels like the storm of opposition to faith never ceases. President Nelson declared, “The adversary never stops attacking. So, we can never stop preparing!” Henry B. Eyring warned, “We will need to have developed and nurtured faith in Jesus Christ long before Satan hits us, as he will, with doubts and appeals to our carnal desires and with lying voices saying that good is bad and that there is no sin. Those spiritual storms are already raging. We can expect that they will worsen until the Savior returns.” 

With their words and warnings in mind, I leave you with some questions to consider. How can you position yourself so that “when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds…yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you” (Helaman 5:12)? How will you center yourself on the Savior? What are you feeling motivated to do differently in order to create a relationship that will deliver both peace and safety?