Thought of the Sunday 37

This week I have been thinking a lot about hope.  We say that we hope for things but what does that actually mean?  Do I really hope that we'll have a good time on our vacation?  Do you really hope that your kids will do well in school?  Is that the kind of hope we should be focusing on?  My husband and I asked ourselves the question "What is hope and what do we hope for?"  Here are some of the gems that we found in the scriptures. 

From the Book of Mormon Nephi says:

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:20).

This scripture answers the question what do we hope for...we hope for eternal life and being steadfast (or loyal) in Christ and His ways can lead us to have a greater hope for eternal life. 

The same notion is expressed in Ether 12:32 which reads, "And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent hope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared."  So we can hope in the reward that we can receive after this life and it even sounds like it might be a commandment to have hope when we are told "man must hope."  The Lord told us in John 14:2 that "In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."  To me this means that the focus of our hope should be on gaining eternal life: the blessings that await us all if we do our Heavenly Father's will.

From the Doctrine and Covenants (138:14) we read that "All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ."  All these souls who had died were firm in the hope of a resurrection; I would expand this to say that they had hope through the Atonement of Christ that they could receive the grace of God. 

Finally, President Uchtdorf, an Apostle of the Lord, gave a fabulous spiritual definition of hope.  He said, "Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to us.  It is confidence that if we live according to God's laws and the word 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 (Ensign, Nov 2008)."

I loved thinking about these things this week.  It led me to decide that finding a stronger hope in eternal life through the Atonement of Christ and my own submission to His will is the most important hope I can focus on.  I believe if we have a strong hope in that, then all of our little daily/weekly/worldly hopes will fall into place.  They won't take over our lives or lead us on the wrong path.  I think gaining this higher hope in eternal life and focusing on it will help us all to keep perspective when things don't go our way.  I am striving to attain this type of hope through study, prayer and fasting.  Hopefully it works out.