Our Lifeline
You don’t have to be a sailor or even a swimmer to know what it feels like to be thrown overboard into a stormy sea and struggle to keep your head above water. Life can feel that way sometimes. Fear and uncertainty crash and swirl all around us, and we feel that all we can do is hold on for dear life—if we could only find something to hold onto. To make matters worse, sometimes people and organizations we once trusted let us down. And so we wonder, where can we turn for peace? Where can we find safety and solace to our souls? Whom can we really trust?
At such times we appreciate the value of a lifeline, especially if we know it is fastened to something sure and secure. From the beginning, people have looked heavenward and found such a lifeline. In divine, everlasting truths that never change, we find the wisdom, love, and light that we can trust, that will never let us down.
A leader and writer from a century ago, George Q. Cannon, once taught: “God can be trusted. . . . No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, He will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character. He is an unchangeable being. . . . He will [always] stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them.”1
That simple truth can be our lifeline. When it seems like there’s nothing else to hold onto, we can grab hold of that thought—that divine love will never fail us. If we can secure ourselves to that reassurance, we can have the confidence to keep trying, to keep trusting, and to keep doing our best. Even when everything else seems as unstable and unreliable as the waves of the sea, the love of God will stand the test of time and lead us to harbors of safety and peace.
1. George Q. Cannon, “Remarks,” Deseret Evening News, Mar. 7, 1891, 4.
Music
March 22, 2020
Broadcast Number 4,723
The Tabernacle Choir
Orchestra at Temple Square
Conductor
Mack Wilberg
Organist
Brian Mathias
Host
Lloyd Newell
All Creatures of Our God and King
German hymn tune
Lyrics: St. Francis of Assisi; translated by William H. Draper
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
Look at the World
by John Rutter
Fanfare (Organ Solo)
Music: William Mathias
Who Will Buy? from Oliver
by Lionel Bart
Arrangement: Michael Davis
Where Can I Turn for Peace?
Music: Joleen G. Meredith
Lyrics: Emma Lou Thayne
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
Thou Lovely Source of True Delight
Music: Mack Wilberg
Lyrics: Anne Steele; additional text by David Warner