(I gave this talk today at Church, but i thought i'd put it up so that others could read it. Hopefully someone can get something out of it that can help. Its a good topic for all of us too. So....enjoy!)
HOPE
Lately, I’ve come to realize that whenever im assigned to speak in sacrament meeting about a particular topic, whatever I am speaking somehow is lived through or tested for that week. Perhaps the Lord wants me to gain some experience so it can be more relatable and personable. To be honest, this week wasn’t an easy one. Some personal disappointments coupled with a bout of food poisoning have made it a little bit stressful. I pray that today my talk will be able to help somebody, including myself. My topic today is on Hope.
So what is hope? In the October 2008 General Conference, President Uchtdorf gave a really good talk on hope. He said that hope “is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance.” (The Infinite Power of Hope, October 2008)
Have you ever noticed the way that the word is hope is used sometimes? For example:
-I hope that so-and-so calls me today…
-I hope that im not late for the party tonight
-(Or in my case) I hope that the Utah Jazz win a championship sometime in my life.
Hope in these cases is transformed into the spiritual equivalent of “crossing our fingers”. We’d really like it to happen, but not sure if it’ll grace us with its presence or if we’ll be lucky to experience it. Thus, hope becomes very short-sighted and lacking in its true meaning.
Hope for vs. Hope in
So what are things that we should hope for? President Uchtdorf continued in his talk that there are things we should hope for and things to hope in. The things we should hope for are the usually future events, the things that are on the horizon for us in our lives. This can be especially difficult when trial after trial seems to hedge up the way for us. The ultimate goal we hope for in eternal life with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and our families; and that the Atonement has made it all possible. (Something good for us to remember this Christmas season.) It’s a hard journey, but as Paul declared: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
The things we hope in are the things that sustain us in our daily needs. This is the hope that we will be delivered from temptation and that our prayers will be answered, as well as our sorrows lifted. Or in other words: “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.” (D&C 90:24)
In Romans 5: 3-5 it states:
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Lets break it down…
1.) So…its telling us that we should glory in tribulations? I don’t know anybody that when faced with difficulties raises their hand and says, “Why yes, I’d love more of those.” But…tribulations makes us stronger. The Lord told Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail that all his afflictions “shall give [him] experience and shall be for [his] good” (D&C 122:7) The afflictions make us stronger and give us the experience needed for future trials.
2.)Then the tribulation is supposed to work patience? Patience definitely gets tried when facing hardships. But we can’t let it break us and define who we are. If we do, we become like Macbeth and mourn “Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. [Macbeth 5.5.23–28]
We cant and must not give up so easily. In the words of Winston Churchill, “What is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory--victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror; victory, however long and hard the road may be. [Churchill: the Life Triumphant, American Heritage, 1965, p. 90]
So when we are able to glory in the tribulations that work our patience; and out of that patience comes the experience, then out of the experience comes our hope. Our hope is then refined in the promises that the Lord has given us, and we will not be ashamed.
So what do I hope for? I hope for the day when I will be able to marry a wonderful woman in the temple and be sealed to her for time and all eternity. I hope for the day when friends of mine and some family, including one of my older brothers, comes back into the fold of the Church and partakes of the blessings they are missing. I hope for the day when I can stand before God and able to be worthy to live with Him forever.
In the June 2009 Ensign, Larry Hiller wrote the poem, “Walking with Two Sisters” which I think sums this all up:
“Faith walks before me,
Holding up her lamp
As I try not to stumble in the ink-dark hours before the dawn.
Her light illuminates
One step and then another.
Beside me, Hope, arm linked with mine, encourages and steadies.
Sometimes in the tedium,
Distracted by the pain,
My mind begins to wander, then my feet. I hesitate.
Unsure, I look to Hope.
Her hand takes mine.
The touch reminds me of another hand held out to me,
One pierced and scarred
Yet oh so tender
Lifting me and blessing me when I had fallen and despaired.
Remembering,
I move ahead
Buoyed up by Hope, who sees the end with perfect clarity.”
My testimony today is that I know that God lives and He loves us. That the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and that His Church has been restored. Let us all have hope. Hope for things yet to be, hope in things that are, and hope in each other. Let us have hope that, although life is not easy and most likely wont be fun, we know its all worth it. And I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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