It Might Be Hope

Sometimes the questions people ask surprise me. Just yesterday, a girl at church just all of the sudden turned to me in the middle of institute and asked me if I thought hope could ever be in vain. Sometimes the answers I spurt out surprise me even more. In answer to her question, I answered with a resounding no. When she asked me why, I told her because hope is a principle of the gospel, and as long as we are truly hoping for something (not wishing that your favorite team will win a rival game but true hope) righteous it cannot be in vain. For some reason, this conversation really impacted me. Why was I so quick to answer? Do I really believe what I told her? I do. There have been so many times in my life where hope is my only option. I feel stuck. I feel beat down. I feel tired. But, when there is hope, there is light. We are promised so many blessings when we live our lives with faith and hope. And, as we come to see what we have hoped for come to fruition, there is a brighter light lit within us. Today, as I was reading through Doctrine and Covenants 86 I came to verse 7 where we are told to let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe. If we ask to cut the tares down when the blades are young (and our faith is weak), we may also destroy the wheat. I immediately thought of our trials and blessings. If we immediately ask for a trial to be taken away when it is just beginning do we risk missing out on blessings (and increased faith) that are results of it? We must let our blessings and trials grow together. In the end we can sift through it all and take only the best things from the situation. Hope is like that. We have to let hope grow up with the hard. It won't be in vain. Not ever.