The other day I listened to Brother Adair say, “If you want to defeat an enemy, take away their hope.”
This is a tactic Satan uses. It causes me to examine: What do I hope for?
President Uchtdorf has a conference talk that I have listened to often called, “The Infinite Power of Hope.” I love this talk! It is so encouraging. He explains, “Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. It’s absence … can make the heart sick.” He continues to explain that having hope in the Atonement of Jesus Christ is not only a principle of promise, but also a commandment, and we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and to overcome the temptation to lose hope.
I love his emphasis on “active” part of our lives. Making hope active in our lives means that we choose it intentionally, that we focus on it and make effort for it. President Nelson explained how much the Lord loves effort in the most recent General Conference. In his wife’s book, “The Heavens are Open,” she reemphasized that truth. The Lord does love effort in everything! I think seeing us put forth effort makes Him smile with hope in us.
In his talk, President Uchtdorf also shares that hope leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing and gladness. Who doesn’t want these things in their lives? He continues to say that hope is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls.
When I think of hope, I think of dreaming big. I think of wishes. I think of ALL that I want for me and others, the biggest I can envision. It’s exciting to think that the Lord promises that His glory is much greater than we can even comprehend. This makes me smile.
President Uchtdorf goes on to compare hope with it’s counterpart, despair … there must be an opposition in all things. The advesary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness, he explains. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful. It leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul and deadens the heart. It can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward.
How sad! It’s no wonder that Brother Adair says the best way to defeat an enemy is by taking away their hope. I can feel despair darkening my spirit just by reading Pres. Uchtdorf’s words on despair.
The talk has so many amazing ideas to it. Read it. But one last thought I want to share from it is that hope is not knowledge, but instead it is trust, confidence, believing. It is manifested in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. With hope we can have patience and bear our afflictions.
There is so much noise in the world right now for me. I feel torn in so many directions. I get a little anxious over some things, which is weird and different for me – I’m not usually an anxious person. I let fear creep inside my head over things I can’t control, also weird for me. I’ve really been learning to let go of control, ha ha. Knowing that it is not only okay for me to hope big, but that it is a commandment to do so lifts my chest and helps me breathe easier. I know God loves us so much. I believe in His promises. I just have to get myself to live them. I’m trying.
I am so grateful for the gospel, for the good news that it is and for the Lord’s faithful servants who work so hard, with so much love, to help us find our way. Hoping big, always.
Forever grateful.
