"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." (Article of Faith 13). I was really struck by the phrase “We hope to be able to endure all things.” I know that the intended meaning of this phrase is most likely something along the lines of “we look forward to the opportunity to prove that we are able to endure all things,” but I was struck by a different potential meaning. A different possible reading is this - We hope, and therefore, because of our hope, we are able to endure all things. In other words, our ability to endure all things is predicated on our choice to have hope whatever our circumstances. When we base our hope on our Savior Jesus Christ, we can endure all things. If we lose our jobs and our wealth, we can hope in Christ and endure poverty. If we lose our friends, we can hope in Christ and endure loneliness. If we find that clouds of doubt and fear are overwhelming our flickering flame of testimony and faith, we can hope in Christ and endure unbelief. The world may give us a million reasons to give up on the Lord, but if we make the conscious choice to hope that Christ will carry us through whatever horrible thing we’re currently facing, then we will be able to endure all things. I know that our ability to hope and our ability to endure are inextricably linked, and that our hope will be a light to us in the darkness when all other lights have gone out, and every time we successfully endure another trial, that light will grow brighter and brighter.
