There is Hope, Smiling Brightly Before Us

By Kristine John

When you experience deep sorrow or heartfelt struggles, or encounter unexpected negative news, it is with certain shock and foggy foresight that you push forward to find solace.


Throughout the course of my life, I have been touched with difficult experiences on a fairly regular basis.
From the time I was small, and my parents divorced, I learned that change was to be expected, and that "these things would give me experience" (D&C 122:7).
Understanding that change was inevitable never made the difficult times easier for me to bear though.
In fact, if anything, that understanding instilled a sense of fear regarding change in my life.


As I have aged, (both in body and in spirit), I have come to find that the more we can turn to our Savior, indeed, the more that we can rely on Him through our trials, the easier difficult things are to bear.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said this:
"The things we hope in sustain us during our daily walk. They uphold us through trials, temptations, and sorrow. Everyone has experienced discouragement and difficulty. Indeed, there are times when the darkness may seem unbearable. It is in these times that the divine principles of the restored gospel we hope in can uphold us and carry us until, once again, we walk in the light.

We hope in Jesus the Christ, in the goodness of God, in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, in the knowledge that prayers are heard and answered. Because God has been faithful and kept His promises in the past, we can hope with confidence that God will keep His promises to us in the present and in the future. In times of distress, we can hold tightly to the hope that things will “work together for [our] good”27 as we follow the counsel of God’s prophets. This type of hope in God, His goodness, and His power refreshes us with courage during difficult challenges and gives strength to those who feel threatened by enclosing walls of fear, doubt, and despair."

I know that hope in the Savior, and hope in the reality of His Atonement takes away not just sins, but the pain and difficulty of trials that include physical pain, emotional struggles and the
shock and disbelief that accompanies monumental change.

May each of us reach to Christ, each day, each hour, and indeed, each minute, if necessary and feel of that eternal peace and ultimate joy that He supplies.