Focus on the Hope in Christ

Hi wonderful people!!

As many of you, I am saddened by the state of America and the world. I don't want to turn on the news to hear about the political mess we are in. Not to mention our virtually non-existent moral compass. Or to mention the racial tension here or the Syrian Refugee crisis globally. Sometimes it causes despair among me and probably you to see and hear and feel these things!! What are we to do in this situation!?!? Can we have faith and hope when we are seeing these awful situations?

Not only do I feel disheartened by the state of the world, I also am regularly troubled by my own state! How do I keep making the same mistakes over and over again? Will I ever learn? Will I ever be able to go to bed at a reasonable hour on a regular basis (the struggle continues to be real for me)!?!? Will I ever be able to truly change? Can I actually leave my past in the past and become a different person?

I have good news! THE good news. ;) We CAN have peace and joy today even in our situations.

There are two examples in the Book of Mormon where people have been able to have joy when most would have given up:

I just finished reading in the Book of Mormon one of the saddest chapters, the second to last chapter in the book Moroni 9. Mormon is writing an epistle to his son Moroni describing the depravity of their people. Fortunately by in large we are not so far gone as these people who are described as past feeling! My eyes started to water hearing about the wickedness, starvation, and suffering of their women and children. He said, "they delight in everything save that which is good." I don't even want to go into more detail because it is so SAD!! But at the very end Mormon says this:

"My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weight thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever." Moroni 9:25

I love that verse. Even in the worst despair, Mormon points his son to THE Son. He points him to Christ who is the victor! His love, His mercy, His patience is unending! When we focus on Christ, we can be sure that everything unfair about life can be made right through His Atonement. We can know that this mortal experience is just an instant. We can have faith in His Great Plan of Salvation. We can know that all things work together for good for those who love God. We can STILL have hope in this world! :)

I also thought of one other similar scripture where a father (Alma) is counseling his son Corianton who had fallen into sexual sin. For multiple pages Alma expounded on the Plan of Salvation, our fallen state, our need for a Savior, how we are to be saved by faith in Him, and much more. At the end of this doctrinal feast for us, Alma teaches his son what to focus on now that he better understands the doctrine:

"And now, my son, I desire that you should let these things trouble you no more, and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance... let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring you down to the dust in humility." Alma 42:29-30

I love this verse as well!! He teaches his son, do not become depressed due to your sins and failings or get overly focused on the intricacies of the Great Plan. Only become humbled by your sins, repent of them, and receive the forgiveness of the Savior who has atoned for you!! :)

Ultimately, it is all about focus. Because we know that we have a Savior, that we have the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we know that eternal life is available to us! We know that real joy is possible in the midst of trials. We know that we can love and serve others in our sphere and make a real difference. We can be forgiven of our sins and be changed from the inside out! We can still have peace and happiness and be filled with love in the trying times in this world and in our personal lives.

I am grateful my scripture study today (albeit late at night) reminded me that hope is possible when our focus is right, when it is on our Savior Jesus Christ. :) 

(Also, for more reading on joy in the midst of these trying times check out the talk "Joy and Spiritual Survival" by Russell M Nelson)