"Hope, the Anchor to MY soul!"

"The word hope is sometimes misunderstood. In our everyday language, the word often has a hint of uncertainty. For example, we may say that we hope for a change in the weather or a visit from a friend. In the the language of the gospel, however, the word hope is sure, unwavering, and active."

What is hope? What do we have left to hope for?

Divorce rates are sky rocketing. Families are being torn apart. Satan is doing all he can to make us doubt, to cause discouragment, and decievingly causing us to see there is no hope. Which is a lie. A BIG FAT lie. There is so much to hope for, there is so much to look forward to.

In the Book of Mormon, in Ether 12:4 it says, "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

"Hope is the anchor to our souls." So what is the anchor? In Heleman 5:12, it says "...remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty strom shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation wheron if men build they cannot fall."

That anchor, is Christ. He is the one who will calm the seas, He is who gives us hope for the future, hope for "a better world." I remember a couple of years ago my family and I were in the Carribbean on a cruise. We went parasailing. And the day we went it was windy and cloudy. We went out on this little speed boat, and I thought I was going to die. I get really bad motion sickness so it really wasn't the funnest thing in the world for me. But this experience reminded me of an instance in the Bilbe when Christ calmed the sea:

Matthew 8:23-26 "And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith: Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm."

Your probably thinking well what does your experience have to do with Christ calming the sea. Because I can't say that Christ came and calmed the storm. Just like in our lives, Christ doesn't always come and calm the storm. "Sometimes, God calms the storm, but sometimes God calms the child and lets the storm rage on." I didn't die parasailing, I made it through. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it. No matter what we are going through, good or bad, challenging or simple, there is HOPE, He is always there.

Christ is our anchor, He is our hope. Through Christ we can find peace, we can find happiness, we can find eternal joy. He loves us. He died for you, and for me.

"...these things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

There will always be tribulations in our lives, but Christ has overcome every single one of them. The atonement of Jesus Christ has changed my life, it's given me HOPE for my life, and the lives of those I love. I know that Jesus Christ lives, He does love us, and he died for us. This Gospel is a Gospel of HOPE!