This morning I listened to a BYU Hawaii Devotional talk titled "In the Days of Service" given by Elder Robert C. Gay. As I started listening, these words immediately caught my attention:
As I begin today, I would like to share a brief, personal reflection concerning the division and turmoil that has arisen out of the recent pandemic and election in the United States. I, like probably many of you, have spent real time reflecting over all that has transpired. In this process I have felt both sadness and distress, but also resolve and peace. During this period, I have often turned to the scriptures for increased light and understanding. There I have been touched by one particular account. It is the occasion where the Savior with His disciples one evening began to sail across the Sea of Galilee. You may recall as they journeyed across the water a fierce storm arose. Waves crashed over their boat causing their ship to fill with water. Despite this chaos Jesus slept. He was calm. Soon, though, His disciples awakened Him and frantically asked, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38). We next read this soul defining response and query from our Savior, “And he arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:39-40).
What are we to learn from this? In part, for me I have been impressed that I must understand and know as never before that no matter what is going on in our lives, the overarching reality is that God is not absent but in the details, and can rebuke any storm. Please know and keep this truth dear, that our Savior knows, understands, sees and is in control of all things. He has all power to intervene and lift us from anything going on in our lives.
As I pondered Elder Gays beginning statement on the division and turmoil that we are seeing today, I feel he gave the solution in these words of his talk:
Our Savior once taught, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11).
Many years ago...my father taught me this very principle. At a gathering as someone asked him how they could make a difference in life, I heard him share a statement that he kept framed on his office wall. The words come from a French professor (that lived during the early 1800's) by the name of Chateaubriand. He was a brilliant historian and writer. One day a group of students came to him with a challenge. They asked him to summarize the history of the world in a single sentence. After pondering the question for a few moments, Chateaubriand said this:
“In the days of service all things are founded, in the days of special privilege they deteriorate, and in the days of vanity they are destroyed.”
He is greatest, as the Savior said, who serves. This too is what my father wanted me to understand as much as anything else. But what does this really mean? It means that all we do must be about service. For relationships to thrive, for societies to flourish, and for mankind to fulfill his potential, we must choose to serve. This includes every corner of our lives, including that which is done in person and online. In contrast...if we choose the course of the natural man, which is so easy to do, all things are destroyed (see Mosiah 3:19). Your challenge today at BYU is not only in earning a degree but in coming to know how to utilize the skills and knowledge given to you here in service to God and mankind.
Thank you, Elder Gay, for your words of wisdom. You can listen to or read the whole talk by clicking here.
