Elder Top spoke to us at the institute forum a few weeks ago, and I loved the analogies he made! He really put the story of Peter walking on water into perspective. He talked about how when we hear the story we always focus on the end where Jesus said "oh ye of little faith..." We hear him and do what we interpret as berating Peter, and we think, oh yeah, silly Peter, how could you have so little faith with the Savior standing right beside you! Elder Top brought such perspective to the story and said we focus too much on the fact that Peter started sinking, but really, Peter got up when the savior reached down to help him up, and then Peter WALKED all the way back to the ship. He walked on water arm and arm with the savior, but we don't focus on that part of the story.
Elder top said "If you never cry out in those moments of sinking, you will never feel the majesty of his hands reaching down to save you." He related a story of his grandson who was scared to death of vacuums, and stairs, and when he was holding the child he would face his fears, and touch the vacuum, and take the stairs two at a time, but when he tried by himself he just stood there and cried. He knows that if he cries for help his loving Grandfather will reach down and take his hand and the Savior is the same way! He is just waiting for us to call on him and reach out our hands so he can help us. :) This thought made me feel so warm and fuzzy. It is so true. We are so loved by a Heavenly Father, and he wants so badly to help us, he just wants us to ask. I was thinking the other day that our Father in Heaven doesn't want to force us to ask him for help, he wants us to show him we want help from him. Sometimes I get annoyed when my parents force their help on me, and try to give me advice when I don't want it or don't think I need it, and Heavenly Father knows this, and he won't bug us and nag us, he lets us come to him in our own time.
Elder Top quoted C.S. Lewis who said, "Sometimes the Lord knocks us silly to teach us what we say we believe." I loved this thought. We can sit here and preach all we want, but in the end we have to prove it. We can do anything through the Lord. Elder Top also said "The Lord will shape your spine to carry the cross placed on it." That is so true!!! We have a Father in Heaven who loves us, and gives us trials to help us get back to him. Without trials, we would not become perfected, and would not be able to make it back to him.
President Hinkely said, "Our problems lie in our fears." Sometimes we are so afraid of change, or anything that we don't know, but really we just need to put our faith in the Lord.
Another great thing Elder Top said was that when we hear miraculous stories from the pulpit we instantly compare their strongest strengths to our weakest weaknesses. "When we compare our weakest weaknesses to other's strengths, we always come up short." Lastly he said "challenges to our faith are not external, but internal." We are our own worst enemies. We come up with our own challenges to our faith, and over analyze things, and make them bigger problems then they really are.
Oh man! What a great forum! I loved it! So great!!!!!
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