Be of Good Cheer

The Lord said, “be of good cheer, and I will lead you along”

The purpose of my post today is to share somethings I learned from reading in the scriptures this week.  I hope you see that the Lord is constant and his plan is perfect.

True or False: We all experience disappointment

I believe we have all experienced a time when we went to an event or party and were expecting to be fed, only to find fruits and veggies on the table. OR, we have all watched our favorite sports team with high anticipation of a win only to see them plummet to an embarrassing loss. Or maybe we have all experienced when a friend or family member canceled on a fun adventure or having a friend or family member tell you they would do something and they didn’t. All these things are disappointing. They leave us sad, hurt, and losing trust and confidence. 

It’s very easy to get wrapped up in schedules, work, finances, school, raising children, planning, and so many more things. In each of these settings it is easy to become disappointed because things don’t always go the way we want. At certain moments in our lives we may feel like there are no answers or solutions to our problems? It becomes very overwhelming at times and can easily lead us to despair. 

President Uchtdorf said, “The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart.”

I know that these moments come into our lives. I have experienced disappointment and I have sunk into despair before. I know when we reach the point of despair we look to God and say as the prophet Joseph did, “Oh God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth they hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries. O Lord, How long shall they suffer.” (D&C 121-1-3)

It’s hard to go through life when all you see is disappointment and the Lord’s lack of intervention.

How do we have hope in God when little seems to go our way?

The Lord said, “And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.”

There Lord teaches us how we can have hope and how we can sustain it.

The Lord made us a promise that the kingdom would be ours. In Hebrews 6:18 & 19 it says, “It was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation (or comfort)…to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul.”

What is the hope that the Lord gave us? He said that the kingdom is ours.  That is a promise that the Lord has made and he cannot break. Robert D Hales said, “Those who wonder if their current circumstance or condition cuts them off from eternal life should remember that “no one is predestined to receive less than all that the Father has for His children.”

We know that life after death is a gift for everyone through the Savior Jesus Christ. He is the light of our hope. If we were to lose all we have and all we love we can still have hope knowing that all can be made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ. We will live again. Our loved ones will live again and the blessings of eternity, the “riches of eternity” will be much greater than and riches we may hope for in this life.

Let me give you an example of an eternal hope. My little brother has been diagnosed with 22q11 deletion syndrome. It is a syndrome that has autistic like behaviors. He gets hooked on certain things. He gets overwhelmed easily. He has learning disabilities, social disabilities, and even some minor physical disabilities. He has many hopes and dreams. He has always wanted to do what big brother did. In his own way the Lord has blessed him to fulfill some of them. However as a brother it hurts my heart to watch him struggle with some of the most simple of things and watch as sadness over comes him and tears fall down his face. In those moments I wish I could trade my situation for his, even if it was for a moment so that he could experience some of life’s great joys. It’s in those moments all I can do is give him a hug or a pep talk and move on. It’s in those moments that I look to the Savior for help and strength. It’s in those moments I remember what he did for us. He died and rose again so that we might all live as perfect resurrected beings. It gives me hope that one day my brother will be whole and one day he will be perfect.  Because of that I can find peace and I can be of good cheer.

Hope is the desired outcome that is in front of us.  It is something that has not happened or that we cannot see but we can live our lives in a way that we may obtain those desired outcomes.  Things may still seem dark and uncertain but we can always see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If we remember the Lord also said, “be of good cheer, I will lead you along.” Because God truly loves us, he does not leave us only hoping for the light and promises at the end of the tunnel. He wants to lead us along on our journey to our eternal promise.

My wife mentioned how faith was something that takes effect in our minds and hope is what takes place in our heart. The Lord said, “Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; “

 Revelation is communication between the Lord and us. We need communication with the Lord to sustain our hope. We communicate with him through prayer. He communicates with us through the spirit. We invite the spirit into our lives in many ways. Going to church, reading our scriptures, going to the temple, inviting good media into our homes, etc. Often times I find myself thinking the Lord is going to fix my problems or give me the answer simply because I have the faith to do the things that he asks. Thus our righteous actions are what gives the hope. I have found having that mentality can lead to more disappointment than hope. To find hope we must truly understand that the Holy Ghost is what comes with our righteous actions. The Holy Ghost doesn’t not fix the problems in our lives. It is the tool that allows us to know where to go and what to do. It is the peace that answers will come in the Lords time.

Let me give two examples. When I was a kid and I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time and the answer didn’t just come.  I finished the Book of Mormon and did as Moroni asked to pray and to see if the Book of Mormon was true. After my prayer I had no overwhelming feeling nor did I have a vision. I got up from my prayer a little confused. I knew I didn’t have my answer, but I knew if I kept praying I would. I read and prayed all week. Nothing. A week in the mind of a twelve year old is forever. It wasn’t until Sunday when I went to my first fireside. At the fireside my Dad was speaking. He was speaking on his testimony of the Book of Mormon. As he spoke the spirit filled my heart. It gave me the peace and the assurance that the Book of Mormon was true. Not because my Dad knew it, but because it was the spirit making the connection that this was the answer I had been praying for.

The role of the Holy Ghost in our hope is to allow us to have peace today as we work toward our answers and solutions for the next day. Sometimes it takes longer than a week.

When I got home from my mission dating was not my thing. I only found high expectations of liking someone only to realize that they did not feel the same. After a few swing and misses I gave up. I gave up for almost two years. I let my disappointments turn into despair.  I started to wonder if I had done something wrong. I wondered if there was something wrong with me. I just decided in all I was not good enough. I just went through for a long time with my head down. I thought in those moments that if I was doing the right thing then I should being having hope. What I didn’t realize that was during those two years the Lord was leading me along. As I read my scriptures, went to church and the temple I was receiving the glimmers of light. I knew that eternal marriage was down the road, but the road seemed like it went  forever. The Lord was kind enough to send his spirit and pick me up along the way. I’m grateful the Lord didn’t just let me settle. I’m glad he made me work. I’m glad he gave me just enough hope to try.  Because from the moment I met Sheena it was different. She filled my heart like no one else had. It was so easy for me to know. The spirit had shown me along the way who I wanted and what I needed. The Lord gave me the hope I need to make it just far enough so that I could receive the greatest blessing I now have in my life.

Brothers and Sisters my invitation to you is have hope. Believe that God has a perfect plan for you. And when the path seems dark don’t give up. Don’t give into disappointment and despair. Trust in God. Know that you “cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, The LORD will lead you along..