The Power of Hope

January 2009
The Power of Hope
Ether 12:4

Hope is the intangible assurance of a tangible reality; the revelation of the outcome of our faith (Ether 12:6; Moroni 7:40). Hope is the power behind faith, and the foundation of charity, and without it there is nothing. Without faith there is nothing. Without charity, you are nothing (Moroni 7:44).
In my earlier years the word hope, for me, was synonymous with the word wish. I never really understood why hope was named as one of the "Big Three;" faith, hope and charity. Dad gave us an increased understanding of faith, and time and experience with persistent research has increased my understanding of charity, but hope has eluded me all of these years, though little by little I had begun to understand some. About one year ago I decided to research the topic and make it a focus of study. I have learned much and what I have learned has helped me understand hope, faith and charity in ways not possible before.
To help us understand hope we will take a brief look at it’s opposites for a moment; the "D" words, despair, discouragement, depression, defeat. These are weapons of the adversary. With them, hope is destroyed, character is demeaned and life becomes desperate. Such emotions are debilitating, devastating and demoralizing, making us subject to the father of such emotions, the Devil. Dad would tell me from time to time that allowing one’s self to wallow in such emotions is a sin. Over the years I have come to realize just how true that is, since the Spirit of God can not remain in the presence of such emotions. In fact, the effects of the Spirit of God are the very opposites; hope, encouragement, optimism, victory, creation, uplifting, calm, peace, enabling, happiness, joy, gratitude.
Why would someone choose to wallow in the "D-emotions?" Wouldn’t we rather be happy? Certainly, we would rather be happy. The problem lies in identifying happiness. You’ve heard it said that some people aren’t happy unless they are unhappy. That sounds like an oxymoron, for it is. What we mean is that some people are content with being unhappy, or more correctly said, they feel no desire to change. In other words they have given up. Their individual pursuit of happiness has led them to the broad gate, an unsustainable, temporary pleasure, fueled by the pride of the world. A heart that wants only for itself without regard for others finds hope replaced with wishing. Pride leads only to the fall and the fall leads to despair as their wishes never come true. The victim of mortality feels defeated, even though such an individual may appear to be momentarily happy. Defeated by the master of sin and destruction he is without hope and faith in the world.
Hope can change everything. Put a man in the middle of the ocean without a raft and all seems hopeless, ah, but give him a raft and he has hope, give him food and water and hope increases, give him a satellite phone and hope increase even more, then give him the sound of a chopper in the distance.
Furthermore hope is the catalyst of faith. No meaningful action occurs without hope, and no meaningful end is reached without faith. It is the hope of success that leads us to try what may seem impossible at first. The vision, or revelation of what is possible is what empowers us to act. I like the "carrot cake" example, because I really love carrot cake. I can buy a box of cake mix, in this case carrot cake. I see the picture of the cake on the box with the pieces of carrot in bright vivid color sprinkled throughout the cake, and the yummy white frosting on top. I can feel by the weight of the box that there is something inside, and the instructions to making the cake are plainly written on the box. My mouth begins to salivate in anticipation, but, I don’t have a cake yet. At this point hope kicks in. Empowered by the revelation of what is possible, I exercise faith by following the instructions. At the beginning I did not know how the cake would actually turn out. I had an idea, from the picture, but the cake was yet unseen. The realization of a finished carrot cake is the salvation I seek. When the cake is finished and I am tumbling that heavenly flavor in my mouth, I then have faith no more for the hope of a carrot cake has lead to the reality of a savory salvation.
Paul said, "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." (Romans 8:24,25) The term "see not" here refers to things that are spiritual. Things that are seen are temporal (2 Cor. 4:18). Hope can be a wonderful picture or vision complete with sight and sound in digital 3-D because it is a revelation from the spirit of what can or will be given to us. Hope can be an anchor that keeps us working and trying to reach the promised end. When we feel that we can’t go on, or that the task is too great, hope, that vision or revelation of truth can pick us up and carry us through. We can face the trial, and conquer because we have hope. (Lam. 3:21-29)
Lehi, and Nephi traversed the Arabian Peninsula and suffered all manner of affliction empowered by the hope of a glorious promised land, that had been seen in vision. Could they have suffered as much, or gone on against such incredible odds without that hope?
Hope must come to us from the Holy Ghost or it is false hope, just wishing. During the few years that I have been alive I have had numerous brushes with the positive thinking crowd. You know, "Think and Grow Rich," "The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People," "Rich Dad, Pour Dad," "How to Win Friends and Influence People," etc. There are some great tools and helpful suggestion within this "Positive Thinking Ideology" however, we must not confuse the tools with the Master. The PT Ideology assumes the absence of revelation which is replaced by a set of habits and methods to achieve an "imagined outcome." Following these prescribed habits and methods will result in success, but, at what expense? The growth and development are in the journey. If the journey is filled with compromises and the sacrifice of more worthy deeds, then the result will be a loss in character. Is there any one of us smart enough to present ourselves with positive growing experiences that serve not only our needs but the needs of others along the way? Will any of us choose those soul wrenching difficult experiences that stretch us and mold us into what we really need to be? You can use the PT skills to achieve many things among which could be a very successful drug cartel, bank robbery, or business scam, as well as honorable wealth and power. My suggestion is this, that the PT Ideology with its selfish wishing be replaced with Hope. You can set goals and make a plan to reach them, and accomplish your goals, but if not set and planned under the influence of the spirit, the outcome though reached will only result in a fleeting happiness, and the corruption of character, and cannot be a fullness of joy.
Hope and faith centered in Jesus Christ lead to a fullness of joy, even Eternal Life. "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.....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." (Ether 12:4,32) The realization of these blessings comes by way of the application of principles (the exercise of faith) founded in the hope of such. This is what brings the greatest joy. For hope leads to faith, which leads to yet greater hope, which leads to yet greater faith, which leads to yet greater hope and so on unto a perfect brightness of hope (2 Nephi 31:20).
We’ve established that hope relates only to revelation as it comes from God, and that all else is wishing, or as the scriptures describe it; "vain imaginations." (See 1 Nephi 12:18, Heleman 16:22) With this definition of the word we can say that hope in Eternal Life and faith in Jesus Christ lead a person to the greatest possible fulfilment. Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve explained:
"The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. That progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether initially it be to your individual liking or not. When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience. If you question everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you" (Ensign, May 1996, 25)
Empowered by hope and acting in faith we will pursue a course of change that will lead to the transformation of our very natures and to the acquiring the attributes of godliness, even charity. It is the combination of these three that makes a person the most fruitful, the most successful, and their achievements the most meaningful (see Alma 7:24). Any achievement no matter how honorable it may seem is completely meaningless if void of these three elements. "And if ye have not faith, hope, and charity, you can do nothing." (D&C 18:19) The point here is this; you may achieve great things in this life by applying habits of success, and even with honorable intentions, but, without the application of faith, hope, and charity, it will have no eternal value. Without eternal value, you have wasted your time in the pursuit of that which moth and rust will corrupt and thieves will break through and steal, for none of it will go with you (Matt. 6:19,20).
So, let’s apply the principles.
Let’s take for example my wood working business. I wonder what it could become. I wonder who it will serve, and how. I would go to the Lord in prayer and fasting for some direction. So why don’t I just decide on my own what I want it to be? Because, the Lord will have some purpose in my being in this line of business. Remember, there is no separation of church and career. He gives me some idea, by impressions or vision or whatever the means of communication may be, what my business will become and why. I see a purpose in it and a path to follow. Under the influence of the spirit, with that hope in mind I set goals and begin the course. Through the experiences that come with starting and building a business, spirit led character building challenges mold me and prepare me for yet greater responsibility and opportunity. Others are served as the business provides employment to those pointed out to me at just the right time. Customers are served and needs are met as the spirit leads us to serve our customers with a quality product and reasonable pricing rather that milking them for every dollar I can squeeze out of them. The business becomes a tool in the hands of God. It becomes His wood shop, and I His steward. Understanding the will of God in our lives is critical to the proper use of talent. Any talent used outside of the will of God is just a talent buried in the sand, no matter how grand we make it look.
So, it is the hope that comes by revelation that empowers us to good works. The challenge is to acquire this hope as it pertains to our lives and our pursuits. We must seek for it through the medium of prayer, and fasting if necessary. We can and must have hope (the revelation of the outcome of our faith) as it pertains to our families, the raising of our children, our jobs, our church callings, our friends, our health, our hobbies, our individual pursuits, our relationship with God. May we have hope in a better world, even the eternal world of our Father, for this is the greatest hope of all.