hope

Everyone "wants"


Wants a baby

Wants not to die

Wants to be free from pain

Wants to chase a dream

Wants to find the one they will love forever

Wants to not have to worry about where their next meal is coming from

Wants to see someone they miss dearly



Why is wanting things that feel out of our grasp, part of life?  What is to be learned from all this wanting?  . . . . .  hope.     That seems to be the answer to everything lately.

Why must we learn "hope"?  . . . . .

I think it has to do with faith.

Moroni 7:42
. . . for without faith there cannot be any hope.

Alma 32:21
. . . therefore if ye have faith, ye hope for things which are not seen . . .

Hebrews 11:2
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for . . .

Moroni 10:21
. . . neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.


Ether 12:9
Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith.

Ether 12:4
. . . which hope cometh of faith. . .

1 Thessalonians 1:3
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ . . .

Alma 25:16
. . . and thus they did retain a hope through faith . . .

Ether 12:6
. . .I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen . . .

Jacob 4:6
. . .we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken . . .

Alma 22:16
. . . and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

Interesting definitions of hope:

real hope is: much more than wishful musing.  It stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual spine.  It is composed, not giddy, eager without being naive, and pleasantly steady without being smug. - Neal A. Maxwell

hope is: realistic anticipation taking the form of determination - a determination not merely to survive but to endure well -Neal A. Maxwell 

"Those with true hope often see their personal circumstances shaken, like kaleidoscopes, again and again.  Yet with the 'eye of faith,' the they still see divine pattern and purpose." - Neal A. Maxwell

"Just as the leaning Tower of Pisa is a persistent rebuke to architectural pessimism," HOPE is, "refusing to topple merely because of the gravity of the current situation."









Why hope?

Ether 12:32 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.  

Moroni 10:22 And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in despair; . . .