What is it ye shall hope for?

Source:  John Hilton III | 12/2/2020 | YouTube Book of Mormon Central

Today, I want to focus on a key question posed by Mormon. He asks, “What is it that ye shall  hope for?” Think about that question for a  moment. What do you hope for? I’ve found that for  many of us, our hopes center on temporal issues:

I hope I can do well on this test. 
I hope I can  find a better job.
 I hope the right person will want to marry me. 
I hope that people don’t judge me or a family member based on X circumstance.  

Although we can appropriately hope for many  things, across the hundreds of times the word  hope appears in the scriptures, it rarely  describes hoping for a temporal outcome.  In fact, in answer to his question “What  is it that ye shall hope for?” Mormon says,  

“Ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ 

and the power of His resurrection,  

to be raised unto life eternal.” 

Throughout  the scriptures, we are told to center our hope  in Jesus Christ. As the Psalmist said,  

“Happy is he whose hope is in the Lord.”  

Now, as generally used in scripture, hope isn’t a  list of the temporal things that we want. Instead, hope is a belief that Christ is real, that the  blessings made possible through his atonement  are efficacious, and that we will be resurrected  to eternal life. 

True hope is less that we will be able to afford a new house, 

and more that  Christ has prepared for us heavenly mansions.  

True hope is less that our children will make  good choices, 

and more that Christ’s atonement is  strong enough to reach them now or in the future.  

True hope is less that our allergies will go away this week 

and more that we will be resurrected and have no more allergies in a future day.  

While a home, children who make good moral  choices, good health, and many other goals are worthy desires we can strive for, we should  work to convert our worries about these things into a hope that in the coming day, God shall  wipe away all tears, there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there  be any more pain. 

The ultimate antidote to worry is a hope centered in Jesus Christ. If my hope is centered in an outcome like getting into graduate  school, my children doing their chores, receiving  a good assignment at work, or excelling at some  task, eventually I am going to be disappointed. However, if my hope is completely centered in  Christ, I will always have the courage to move  forward. Truly the Savior is the Hope of Israel.  

So, how do we have more hope in Christ? How do we obtain this hope? Mormon taught 

“The Holy Ghost  filleth with hope.” 

The more we can invite the  spirit into our lives through prayer, service,  temple worship, family history, and many other  ways, the greater will be our hope in the Savior.  Studying the scriptures is specifically  highlighted by prophets as being a key  to increasing hope. They are the words of  Christ that will give us the guidance we need. 

In a letter to his son, Moroni, Mormon provides  another important key for increasing hope:  always remembering the Savior. Mormon  writes, 

“My son, be faithful in Christ;  and may not the things which I have written  grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death;  but may Christ lift thee up and may his sufferings  and death, and the showing His body unto our  fathers, and His mercy and long-suffering,  and the hope of His glory and of eternal life,  rest in your mind forever.” 

I love that. It’s the  hope of eternal life, not the things of this life,  that need to rest in our minds forever