Hope

“Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity” (Moroni 10:20).

In the Mormon world, we tend to hear a lot of talk about developing charity and faith. Everything from Sunday School lessons to whole chapters in the Book of Mormon get devoted to these two Christlike attributes. And whenever faith and charity get grouped together, another Christlike attribute always seems to pop up as well: that of hope. But whereas multiple scriptures define faith and charity and detail exactly how we can develop them (see, for example, Alma 32 or 1 Corinthians 13), scriptures that break down hope seem much harder to find. What is hope? Why do we need it? And what does it look like in everyday life?

Hope Defined

In modern lingo, we use the word hope to denote something that we wish for but cannot control: I hope the weather’s good today, I hope that cute boy asks me on a date, I hope this traffic doesn’t make me late to work. Our limited control over these outcomes means that we have no guarantee that these wishes of ours will come true.

When I try to apply this definition to scriptural passages about hope, however, it doesn’t quite seem to fit. Paul teaches that “we are saved by hope” (Romans 8:24), but salvation seems too essential to our eternal well-being to come from something as flimsy as wishful thinking. Moroni also speaks of hope, claiming it as “an anchor to the soul” (Ether 12:4). But me hoping I’ll get an A on my paper does nothing to anchor my soul; instead, it feels as if the nervous anticipation causes my heart to get swept away with my thoughts until both feel the complete opposite of anchored. How do I reconcile this disconnect between what I mean by the word hope, and the blessings promised by these ancient prophets?

Turns out, the word hope hasn’t always had the definition it has today. Like many words in the English language, its meaning has changed throughout the centuries. At the time the scriptures were translated, its definition was a feeling of trust.

So it’s not just wishful thinking, after all. It’s something more tangible than that: trust. So now we know what hope means – but where does this feeling of trust come from? And how can we cultivate it for ourselves?

So now we know what hope means – but where does this feeling of trust come from? And how can we cultivate it for ourselves?

The answer comes from Moroni: Hope is found “through the Atonement of Christ." Our hope grows as we continuously apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our own lives. As we follow the words of Christ as taught by the prophets, we experience firsthand the power of Christ’s Atonement to heal and strengthen us, spirit as well as body. This increases our hope – our trust – that the Savior will continue to strengthen and heal us. And with this trust comes the reassurance that even though we may not see a way to make those good things that we wish for happen in our lives, our Heavenly Father has a plan, along with the power to make that plan happen. God controls the outcomes, and with that knowledge we have the guarantee that all we hope for will come true.

Now when we look back at those two verses, they make a lot more sense. Our salvation comes through trusting that the Savior can and will save us. This trust, in turn, gives us motivation to stay anchored in following the Savior’s teachings no matter what is going on around us, because we trust that from our efforts will come worthwhile results. Hope gives us something to rely on when all around us feels unstable. It requires that we yoke the emotion of trust with the action of obeying, the emotion motivating the action and the action generating more of the emotion in a cyclical process. In this way cultivating hope is similar to cultivating charity and faith.

One last question that has often puzzled me: How can "good things to come" affect my current emotional state? How can something in my distant future make a difference in my present bleakness?

                                             

Hope Applied

Surprisingly, to have hope does not mean that we solely focus on - and therefore live in - the future. It means that because we trust God to fulfill all His promises to us at some point in the future, we can then let go of our anxieties for what's to come, as well as our regrets over what has happened in our past, and thus become more anchored in the present moment. 

My hope has developed slowly, over the course of several years, and even as I write this post I know that still I have much to learn. As I have grown ever closer to the Savior, I have gained several insights about this feeling of trust that comes from Him:

Hope means moving forward: Not letting my past define my present, but letting go of past pains and mistakes because I trust that the Atonement has the power to make me whole again. And when I combine this with my (ever-growing) faith in the Savior's love for me, I can then start to comprehend that my worth is defined by God’s love and sacrifice for me, not by anything I ever do or say. My actions affect my progression, but they can never change my worth. As I act on my hope I begin to understand this principle within both my heart and mind, thus enabling me to work towards my potential in spite of the chance of failure. God loves me even when I don’t succeed – and that gives me the hope to keep going after experiencing discouragement as I let the Savior – and those around me – help pick me up and get moving towards my dreams and goals again.

Hope means looking back purposefully: Seeing how God’s hand has guided me in the past, then using the resulting feeling of faith and love to trust that He will continue to guide my life in the future, and that, furthermore, whatever my life is like right now, the Lord has a plan and is guiding me patiently and intentionally through it. This helps me keep going when there seems to be no point, knowing that someday I will understand the hows and whys of everything I am going through right now, and that it will all seem worth it.

Hope also means being immersed in the present: Trusting in the Lord enough to let go of my wishes and fears of the unknown, trusting that He has a plan – and enough power to make that plan happen, no matter what mistakes I may not know enough to avoid. This letting go frees me from worries and gives me space to enjoy the small pieces of wonder that exist inside the shards of even otherwise broken days. Hope leaves my mind free to fully embrace each new moment as it comes.

Hope Cultivated

Most of all, hope is a journey. It’s something we learn and practice one little bit at a time. My own journey to hope has taken years, and I’m definitely not at the finish line yet. All those things I described above? A year from now, I’m sure I’d be able to expound hope with even greater depth. But here’s the thing about hope: I trust the Savior enough to know that even though I don’t know everything right now, what I do know is enough for Him to make today magnificent. And as I keep on striving to learn more so I can draw ever closer to God, my Savior will be there to hold my hand every step of the way.

My hope has come from doing the little things daily, doing them sincerely, doing them with the expectation of results. My hope for the future has come from recognizing how God has turned the me of the past into the much calmer, more confident, more loving, peaceful, grounded me of the now – and having the faith that He will continue to fulfill all the promises He has made to me, both through the words of prophets (ancient and modern alike), and more individual promises made specifically to me, through the words of my Patriarchal Blessing and personal revelation. Hope is faith in God’s charity for all mankind, but also, individually, for me. Hope is faith in God's love.