Hope in Trials

There are times in life when I feel like I am alone.

I mean, really alone.

I feel, at times, that nobody on this earth understands what I am going through. It is during times like these that I rely heavily on the Lord.

Elder James B. Martino of the Seventy said, "To some, our trials may not seem great, but to each of us who are passing through these experiences, the trials are real and require us to humble ourselves before God and learn from Him." (James B. Martino, "All Things Work Together for Good," Liahona, May 2010, 101–3)

However, it seems that even my prayers are not being heard at times. It's frustrating because I feel like I am trying to be the very best that I can, but instead of a feeling of joy and happiness, I feel like I have been abandoned.

As he was sitting in Liberty Jail - on false charges - the Prophet Joseph Smith cried out to the Lord saying, "O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? O Lord God Almighty...let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels moved with compassion toward us." (Doctrine & Covenants 121: 1,4)

Do you remember what the Lord said to him? "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment." (Doctrine & Covenants 121:7)

I don't expect my life to be without trial. After all, in Matthew 5:45 it reads, "for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." I just wish that there was someone that understood the pain and suffering that I have been going through and could help me out of this misery.

As you will recall from the Bible, Job was having a bad day or two. (To put it lightly.) So his friends - Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar - come to visit him and offer comfort.

The words of Eliphaz, found in the fourth chapter of Job, gives me comfort on those really bad days I have:

Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. - Job 4:3-5

These verses mean so much to me. With my personality, I have "strengthened the weak hands" and "the feeble knees." Yet, when it comes time for my hands and knees to be strengthened, I am "troubled."

So what can get me - and you - through our trials?

Hope.

And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?

And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.

And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.

If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity. - Moroni 7:40-44

Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve said:

Real hope keeps us 'anxiously engaged' in good causes even when these appear to be losing causes on the mortal scoreboard. Likewise, real hope is much more than wishful musing. It stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual spine. Hope is serene, not giddy, eager without being naive, and pleasantly steady without being smug. Hope is realistic anticipation which takes the form of a determination—not only to survive adversity but, moreover, to 'endure … well' to the end (D&C 121:8).

Real hope inspires quiet Christian service, not flashy public fanaticism. Finley Peter Dunne impishly observed, 'A fanatic is a man who does what he thinks the Lord would do if He knew the facts' (quoted in The Third—and Possibly the Best—637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said, comp. Robert Byrne [1986], no. 549).

Indeed, when we are unduly impatient with an omniscient God’s timing, we really are suggesting that we know what is best. Strange, isn’t it—we who wear wristwatches seek to counsel Him who oversees cosmic clocks and calendars. (Neal A. Maxwell, "Hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ," Ensign, Nov 1998, 61)

With hope - and a little patience - this too will pass.

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. - 2 Nephi 31:20