It is far too easy to get bogged down in the daily grind of life. If your life includes all the normal things like family, job, church and community responsibilities it can get trying enough. Add to that mix, health issues which can send your debt and stress to screamingly high levels, and you have a life that can easily be a little low on the hope meter. Elder Neal A. Maxwell states:
“Without hope, what is the future of lubricating forgiveness among the human family? Without hope, why forgo now in order to preserve precious resources for future generations? Without hope, what will keep the remaining idealism from also souring into cynicism and thereby laying waste to governments and families—institutions already in such serious jeopardy?
“A coalition of consequences is emerging. As prophesied, the love of many waxes cold (see Matt. 24:12). Even those affectionately secure [in] themselves can sense the chill in the air. The loss of hope sends selfishness surging, as many turn, even more intensively, to pleasing themselves. The diminished sense of sin diminishes shame, that hot, sharp spur needed for repentance. Shame is often replaced by the arrogance of those morally adrift, including strutting celebrities whose outer boldness camouflages their inner emptiness. Henry David Thoreau correctly observed that “unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusement of mankind” (Walden, New York: Harper and Row, 1965, p. 7). No wonder so much hollow laughter emanates from the “lonely crowd.” Brightness of Hope, Ensign, Nov 1994, p. 34
To this I say, regardless of the circumstances in your life, “This too shall pass.” There is hope. There is nothing that the Savior’s pure and truly unconditional love cannot heal. Yes, we can go through terrifying experiences that leave us empty and terrified. But if we reach toward the heavens, and call out to our Father in Heaven, there is peace, even hope.
You might think that I say this without any experience or understanding to the harder and tougher side of life. And to this I respond, “No, I have not lived on the streets. No, I have not been sexually abused. No, I have not been addicted to drugs or alcohol. No, I have not been abused by my parents or husband.” The experiences in my life have been alternately hard and fantastic.
While we moved so much when I was a child, it helped me to turn more to reading, nature and God.
Although my parents divorced when I was fourteen, the loss of an all-but-absent father was minimal. I paid only three consequences of that divorce: The belief that nothing is permanent. (And in mortality, it is not, except the Atonement and the pure love of Christ.) The belief that someone will love me until they don’t. (My husband has gone a long way in dispelling that belief.) And lastly, the belief that fathers abandon their wives and children. (This has even tainted my understanding of certain historical and doctrinal facts, until recently.) What the divorce did do, was free me of the influence of an adulterous and abusive (to my mother) father. It provided me with the picture of a mother who loved, who fought for her family and who was willing to work hard to make sure her children were provided for as well as loved and encouraged. By living her life accordingly, she gave me the example of a woman of God who could not be trampled under the careless feet of one who had ultimately turned away.
My health has been less than stellar in my life with numerous surgeries and hospital stays. Instead of succumbing to the belief that I was unhealthy, my mother taught me to look at it as simply one more thing to overcome. I have become knowledgeable in a variety of natural medicinal paths, in addition to gaining a great deal of understanding of the medical handling of a number of health issues. I understand how to research the diseases, the drugs interactions, the side effects, and the supplementation with natural herbs, vitamins and minerals to balance the playing field of the body. This not only brings me a measure of comfort, but I have found that I am able to help others as well.
Financial worries have plagued me since the day of my birth. I can recall no time in my life when we had something a little extra at the end of a paycheck. Once I married, my husband and I worked hard to eradicate the debt we’d foolishly accumulated in our twenties. This was working great until he was diagnosed with kidney failure. Our debt is now so astronomical that there will never be a day when we will be free. Instead of being crushed, we soldier on trying to find solutions and answers.
Life is life – we were put here on this mortal plane to grow. We can’t grow if life is easy. It is really as simple as that. Remember that our Savior suffered and paid for every single sin, illness, wound, pain, grief and sorrow. What you suffer as you go through life, the Savior suffered at the exact time He was suffering for everyone else. There is no one who better understands your trials than Jesus Christ.
Find hope in the love of Jesus Christ. Find hope in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Find hope in the scriptures. Find hope in the gospel. Find hope within the walls of the holy temples. Find hope amongst family and friends. Find hope in the beauty of the mountains, oceans, forests, jungles, meadows, flowers, even in the rising and setting sun. Find hope on the back of a horse as you gallop through field and mountain. Find hope in the fact that you are a beloved child of God. Your Father in Heaven loves you deeply and irrevocably. Hope is abundant in today’s world. The question is – will you reach for it?