Hope in Christ

Journal Entry – Thursday morning, Dec. 18, 2008 - Steven Allison

Here in South Jordan the snow is coming down about an inch per hour. I can hear Ray Kunze plowing our driveway riding his yellow 4 wheeler.
I get out of bed to pray. I thank Him for our blessings and pray about all of us and say to the Father, “Don’t you know, some of us are having a hard time?” I am sure He does know. Despite all the challenges our family faces I feel peaceful this morning. I wish to write about that peace which passes all worldly understanding.
Joseph Smith taught that hope is the object of our faith. What do we hope for in our lives? Surely we hope for happiness and joy. We want to succeed. We want to be good. We want the best for our children and grandchildren. We want our spouses to be successful and well. We want money to use so we can accomplish important things. More than money, we want to make a solid contribution with our talents. We hope for a prosperous future and the good health to accomplish our goals. Ultimately we hope for Eternal Life and await the eternal promises we received in the temple of our God.
I wonder if sometimes our personal hope becomes too easily centered on earthly and worldly things. The Lord has blessed this family in amazing ways. We have so much to be thankful for. But in the midst of our prosperity some things just don’t seem to be working out. Do we get discouraged? I know I do. At times I feel lost and alone, forlorn and ignored. When I feel that way, I work to re-evaluate the situation and soon find that I had allowed earthly hopes to push a more sustaining hope out of my way. I so easily forget that Christ has not promised us success, good health and blue skies every day. (If we do have success, good health and blue skies – how blessed indeed we are!) In fact, Christ has promised that dark clouds and difficulties will come our way. (Matt. 5:45) What is for sure, and I testify of it, is that we may have peace through Christ in the midst of any trial or disappointment. The challenge is to be satisfied with the gift of peace alone and let Him have all our desires and all our aspirations. Moroni teaches that when we have a sufficient hope in Christ we can enter into His rest in this life. Christ has promised that He will be there for us when we need Him.
We work hard to accomplish good things for ourselves and our families. But we need to remember that He sees the long term picture better than we do. He will put us where He wants us according to our faith in Him. How do we know when we are going about things His way? He will send us peace. But if we want or demand something other than peace of heart to satisfy us build our self-esteem, we will not recognize the gift of peace when it comes. Nor will we find joy in the giver of that gift. Didn’t he say to us of the faith, “Peace I leave you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you,”? (John 14:27) And what if we are not satisfied with peace from Christ? Then nothing will satisfy us. No accomplishments, no honors, no amount of money will make us feel right inside. He has promised us that all good things will come to us in His time and in His way. He will eventually compensate us for all our ills, trials and shortfalls if we remain faithful. If we cannot accept that and demand more, we may become disillusioned. We may lose hope.
In December 1833, the Saints were suffering great afflictions at the hands of mobs in Missouri. The prophet Joseph Smith received this revelation.
(Doctrine and Covenants Section 101:14 - 19)
14 And all they who have mourned shall be comforted.
15 And all they who have given their lives for my name shall be crowned.
16 Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God.
17 Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered.
18 They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their inheritances, they and their children, with songs of everlasting joy, to build up the waste places of Zion—
19 And all these things that the prophets might be fulfilled.

We have many great promises from the Lord that will be fulfilled when we are faithful, in His time and in His way. Did I mention patience – God’s version – not ours?

Here and now we have our faith and we have our fears. It is healthy to discuss our fears and worries with each other and to comfort one another with our faith. We need to see our fears for what they are and let the Holy Spirit come into our hearts so we can be of good cheer and not be afraid. Anciently, the Apostles were adrift during a storm on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus came to them, walking on the water. He said, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” (Matthew 14:27) Peter tried to walk upon the water but when he saw the waves and the wind his faith faltered and the Savior had to rescue him. So it is with us. Here on the sea of our life we have our storms and they frighten us. But we also have our faith in Christ to strengthen us and lift us up above our troubled waters.

Penny and I have been here on earth only a brief time ahead of you but in that time we have gained some perspective. When I look back over the years and see where we came from, Jeff Street and Brems Street in San Diego, California, and see where we are now and what we have, I see many miracles. During the move here in the summer of 1978 the car blew the rear main seal just past Victorville. Little did I know then the blessings that awaited us through the years ahead. We were stuck in a desert with a broken car and two little ones who needed to get out of the heat. We kept our heads, prayed, and the Lord blessed us with some help. After a delay, we were on our way again. So it is now, we get delayed and things break. Each of us may have a hard time, sometimes we may have a hard time that no one else knows exists inside us, but the help will be there and God will send us on our way. The greatest blessings we have are our testimonies and our covenants with each other and with God. Let us not be discouraged. God is watching over us. The promises from Doctrine and Covenants 101 are sure and they will come to pass. So let our hearts be comforted concerning our place in Zion; for our flesh is in His hands. Surely we can be still and know that He is God. He is our God and our friend. Indeed we can be of good cheer in the midst of life’s storms because He is near and can calm the troubled seas of our lives.
I love these poetic and prophetic words of the Apostle Paul who asked:
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35 - 39
I love you all, Dad

The Christmas Card from Rika's family.