We believe for many things, yet beyond them all, we believe in Jesus Christ. We don't always know what is going to happen. We just know it will always work out for our good!
"And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? (Genesis 17:15-17)"
"Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. (Romans 4:18-20)"
"Abraham and Sarah could not, in their advanced age, have anticipated that the promises of God would be fulfilled in the literal sense that they would be in their behalf. The voice of God proclaimed that they themselves would give birth to a son who would carry the seed of Abraham into all of the world through his posterity. Thus would Abraham become the father of nations; inasmuch as his posterity would be as the stars of heaven, as the sand of the sea, and as the dust of the earth. 'So shall thy seed be.'"
Abraham was a realistic man and after sizing up his situation new that it was not possible for him and his beloved wife to have children of their own. Yet Abraham believed and trusted in God to keep his promises. All human reason for hope was gone; he hoped in faith.
Abraham was very positive about a very negative situation.
Elder Neal A Maxwell has instructed us:
"Being blessed with hope, let us, as disciples, reach out to all who, for whatever reason, have 'moved away from the hope of the gospel' (Col. 1:23). Let us reach to lift hands which hang hopelessly down."
Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur. When we have hope, we work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for our good. Hope helps us conquer discouragement. The scriptures often describe hope in Jesus Christ as the assurance that we will inherit eternal life in the celestial kingdom.
President James E. Faust taught:
"Hope is the anchor of our souls....
"Hope is trust in God's promises, faith that if we act now, the desired blessings will be fulfilled in the future....
"The unfailing source of our hope is that we are sons and daughters of God and that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, saved us from death" ("Hope, an Anchor of the Soul," Ensign, Nov 1999, 59-60).
In Hebrews chapter 6 we learn more of hope:
"For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. Hebrews 6:10-19)"
Hope is the force that keeps us steady in a time of trial. Don't ever stop hoping. If you do, you're going to have a miserable life. Don't be afraid to hope. No one can promise that you'll never be disappointed. But you can always have hope and be positive. Put yourself in God's miracle-working realm.
Expect a miracle in your life!
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