Most of the time, life is pretty wonderful. The world around us is filled with beauty. We are surrounded by people who care about us. And we wonder how life could be any better.
But then there are other times when life seems overwhelming and gloomy, and those happier days are a distant memory. At those times the best thing to do—maybe the only thing to do—is hold on to hope. Not just wishful thinking. Not even mere positive thinking. But robust, fearless hope. This kind of hope is not for the faint of heart. It demands courage to believe, strength to carry on, and the resolve to not give up. If our hope is to get us through the truly dark days, through life’s real storms, it must be anchored to something stronger than we are, something deeper than what we see around us. Hope has power as we focus on everlasting things, on eternal principles, on trust in God.
Most of life’s darkness and dreariness is temporary. Things tend to work out in the end. Gordon B. Hinckley was known for these reassuring words: “It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. … Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake [you].”1 He is the reason for our hope.
Not long ago, a man learned that he needed a major operation to preserve his health. As he faced this sobering news, three words came to his mind over and over again: strong, positive, hopeful. Although he was concerned about the operation and his recovery, the man determined to go to the hospital with those three words in his mind and heart. In the months of recovery that followed, he repeated those three words as a kind of motto to live by: Strong. Positive. Hopeful.
As he did, he found strength within himself he didn’t know he had. He found that positive things happened every day that he could be thankful for. And he found that there was reason to hope that things would improve and work out for the best. Life wasn’t always easy, but he saw that it was pretty wonderful.
1 “Latter-day Counsel: Excerpts from Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, Oct. 2000, 73.
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February 2, 2020
Broadcast Number 4,716
The Tabernacle Choir
Orchestra at Temple Square
Conductor
Mack Wilberg
Organist
Richard Elliott
Host
Lloyd Newell
Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah
John Hughes; arr. Mack Wilberg
If the Savior Stood beside Me
Sally DeFord; arr. Sam Cardon
How Great Thou Art
Swedish folk tune; arr. Dale Wood
Happy and Blest Are They, from St. Paul
Felix Mendelssohn
On a Wonderful Day like Today
Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley; arr. Sam Cardon
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
Attributed to Louis Bourgeois; arr. Mack Wilberg