Hope

Hope

I don’t care.  I really don’t care.  In my heart I don’t care about the things of this world.  Nothing can hurt me.  I’m strong.

I don’t want ease, I want hardship.

I don’t want fun, I want suffering.

I don’t want peace, I want a sword.

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Matthew 10:34

Mind you, I don’t want to suffer any more than anyone else, but I’m willing.  I will accept the will of the Lord in all things.  If I’m tortured, hated, rejected, scorned, or have to suffer loss or pain in any form, I will rejoice!

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Matthew 5:10-12

There is a name for this place:  Hope.

Hope

Hope is a simple concept that we often use.

“I hope I get into school this semester.”

“I hope I win the jackpot.”

“I hope my business succeeds.”

“I hope I make it to my next doctors appointment.”

Hope is an anticipation of gain in things over which we have no control.  We are willing to put in work and effort for the possibility of gain in the future.  We invest time and money for the hope of an increase.  We allow suffering for the hope of fulfillment.  When we marry and make a commitment to our spouse, we hold out for the hope that this marriage will be a “happily ever after,” even when it is hard, painful, and lonely.  Hope gets us through the hard times, allowing us to “see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

In the Tongue of Angels, hope is progressive.  The gift of hope starts as a small wish or want, a desire for a good outcome.  This desire grows as faith grows, a little at a time.  It is the hope of salvation, and ultimately the hope of a glorious resurrection.

The Depth of Despair

Hope starts as a recognition that salvation is possible; if I don’t see the possibility of salvation, then I’m in despair.

And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in despair; and despair cometh because of iniquity.

Moroni 10:22

Despair is a lack of hope, or the quality of being hopeless.  Without hope, life is only suffering and death.  The pleasures of the world may hide or calm despair, but the reality of hopelessness returns.  There is even despair in pleasures because we know they are going to end in suffering.  “I never want it to end...” but it always does, and the outcome of our pleasure-seeking behavior leaves us with more pain and suffering.

Putting hope in the things of the world is a dead-end.  There is no hope in indulgence.  Without God all other things are hopeless.  Jean-Paul Sartre explained how godlessness brings despair:

Dostoyevsky once wrote: “If God did not exist, everything would be permitted”; and that, for existentialism, is the starting point. Everything is indeed permissible if God does not exist, and man is in consequence forlorn, for he cannot find anything to depend upon either within or outside himself. He discovers forthwith, that he is without excuse.

(Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Sartre, ed. Walter Kaufman, Meridian Publishing Company, 1989)

Hope and despair are at opposite ends of a spectrum.  Without hope there is only despair; as we increase in hope, we decrease in despair.  I have been in the depths of despair.  I have been hopeless to the point of wishing I could cease to exist.  Without God, as Sartre points out, there is no way out of my predicament, I have weaknesses and problems, I have sins and iniquities.  I don’t have control of myself, or anything around me -- I’m lost!  I feel very deeply the loneliness of separation from God, and the hopelessness of ever finding fulfillment.  I live life the way the dying Nephites were described by Mormon:

“But behold, I was without hope, for I knew the judgments of the Lord which should come upon them; for they repented not of their iniquities, but did struggle for their lives without calling upon that Being who created them.”  (Mormon 5:2)

“...they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives.”  (Mormon 2:14)

I understand this despair.  Mormon served as the leader of the armies of the Nephites in spite of being without hope for them.  In turn, the people were hopeless because they didn’t turn to God.  There was nothing they could do.  They only wished to die, yet they continued to struggle for life.  Even in my despair, I wanted to hope, I looked for hope -- I hoped for hope.

Obtaining a Hope in Christ

From the beginning hope is a gift.  It begins with a recognition that we’re born in sin, that we are in the lone and dreary world, separated from God.  If we don’t feel this loss, then there is nothing to hope for.  There is no need for improvement.  It is what it is, and we wouldn’t be looking for more, or better.  If what we have is enough, than it would be illogical to seek more.  More than enough is too much.

However, when we understand the loss of communion with God, we long for fulfillment.  I felt a hole in the heart that needed to be filled.  I needed a connection.  I would hear the word of the Lord, and begin to “hope for a better world.”  I rejoiced in the testimony of others who had obtained this hope; I wanted what they had.  I believed that the Lord, Jesus Christ, could fill my hole, and make me whole; I had hope in this.  As I believed I began to seek evidence of its validity.

Faith

The evidence we seek is faith.  My evidence came from others, at first.  I believed that they knew something I didn’t, and I wanted to experience it myself.  Being very scientific, I needed evidence, my own personal evidence.  I couldn’t always rely on the witness of others.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

I began to gather evidence of what I believed.  I prayed, and studied, and pondered, and listened, and began to gather more and more evidence.  The words were true.  I verified them myself.  As my evidence increased, my faith grew, and I began to gain knowledge of things outside of the world.  I received a testimony of God, and of His love, and this gave me hope.

But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

Alma 22:16

As faith lead me to understanding, I began to change my life, trying to be obedient to the words of God.  His commandments have only one purpose, and that is to bring us back to Him, to Eternal Life.  As we are more obedient, we purify ourselves, as He is pure, and gain a hope in Christ.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

1 John 3:2-3

Having hope gave me the desire to invest in the Lord, and in my future beyond this life.  I was willing to go through the purification process so I could obtain those things that are promised, or those things I hope for.  I’m even willing to suffer pain and loss, as Christ did, because I know it helps me to purify myself.  I sought to give up, or sacrifice the things of the world for the hope of a better world.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.  And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.  And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

A Sure Thing

The concept of enduring suffering now so that we can enjoy later is as old as man, and is found everywhere.  In personal finance we have Dave Ramsey telling us to live the first years like nobody else wants to so that we can live our last years like nobody else can.  We sacrifice what we want now, for having wealth and financial freedom later.  We go to college, studying hard, paying a lot of money, so we can have a future career that we will enjoy for years.  We have a family, and endure a great number of hardships so we can have love.  The hope we have in all these cases might never come to fruition because the world is very unpredictable.  However, the hope in Christ is a sure thing because God keeps all of His promises.

Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Hebrews 6:17-20

A hope in Christ allows me to divest myself of all the things of the world because I want more.

And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better.

D&C 25:10

I don’t need to worry about anything.  I don’t need to mourn the loss of anything.  I don’t even care about pain and suffering.

...and they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it.  Therefore, they would suffer death in the most aggravating and distressing manner which could be inflicted by their brethren...

Alma 27:28-29

When I have hope, I don’t care about suffering, pain, or afflictions.  I can endure all things because I know and am sure that there is an end, a glorious end.

But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.

Alma 34:41

I can endure suffering because it will be only a moment, like getting a shot, or suffering through surgery is painful for a moment, but will be for my good.  A patient submits to be cut up by the surgeon’s scalpel because of the hope of healing.  Hope gives a reason for suffering; it isn’t just to be endured, but is training to be like Christ.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

Romans 5:1-4

Hope comes in the promise of God of salvation, redemption, healing, peace, love, and abundance, that of a glorious resurrection, and exaltation.

My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high

D&C 121:7-8

Thus, hope requires faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and in His promises.  Having obtained this hope, I’m no longer stuck in the world.  I’m no longer servants of sin.  I’m free through the truth.  Knowing what comes next, and having a promise of a glorious resurrection, meaning death is not the end, and suffering will come to an end, and be for my benefit, allows me to endure all things in the world.  Nothing of the world is important.  Nothing in the world can take away my hope in Christ so I don’t care about anything.  He is my all in all.  All I need is Him.  What happens to me here is only temporary, whether pleasure or pain, so I care for neither.  I can do as He did, and be as He is because I know what will happen in the end.  I can take upon myself the suffering of others through His grace.  I can accept injustice because He did.  I can love all without reservation because I don’t care, they can’t hurt me.  I’m invincible in Him.