All of us have at one time or another experienced wrong choices, the loss of a loved one, rejection or even betrayal.  As part of our mortal state we are subject to pain, sickness, happiness, anger and sadness, but even through the darkest times of our lives there’s still hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Whatever circumstances we have had in our lives they serve as learning experiences, chances for improvement and even inspiration to help us believe that there’s more to life. Sometimes we hold back or can’t get over our past, and as a result, live in fear and discouragement. If we stay on this path we lose chances to be happy, to trust again, to work hard, to dream and even to change.

This is when the adversary attempts to take advantage of our weakness. We must be careful for he will make us believe that we are hopeless, alone and have no way out.

There is a story of a young man who, together with his fiancé, had a tragic accident just a week before their wedding. The accident caused the death of the love of his life. The day that he learned of her death, he felt he had died too. Dreams were shattered and hope turned into emptiness.  There was no time that he didn’t blame himself to what happened. He never had a day that he wasn’t sorry and felt like weeping.

After a year, he received a call from the parents of his fiancé. They encouraged him to go on with his life. They told him to give himself a chance to be happy, open a new chapter, and start over again. They gave him words of hope, and courage to overcome the fear and anger that he felt. His family had prayed for him to have the strength to overcome his feelings of loneliness and to have faith in God again.

As humans we are often afraid of change that might be difficult or heart breaking. But the Lord has His own purposes. It is not easy and would be even harder without our understanding and faith in the Savior’s Atonement. Our testimony and understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ will bring us light and direction even during the darkest hours of our life.

Let’s keep holding on to His great promises. It is for our own good and it is just for a short moment. I pray that this young man would be able to find his way back to our Father in Heaven as he learns to submit to the will of the Lord even as a little child.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell has shared, “In the geometry of restored theology, hope has a greater circumference than faith. If faith increases, the perimeter of hope stretches correspondingly… Hope is realistic anticipation taking the form of determination-a determination not merely to survive but to ‘endure well’ to the end.” Hope keeps us anxiously engaged. He continued, “A genuine hope is urgently needed in order to be more loving… more merciful even when misunderstood or misinterpreted, more holy… more courteous and patient… and more full of heartfelt hope, even when other men’s hearts fail them. Whatever our particular furrow, we are to “plow in hope” without looking back or letting yesterday hold tomorrow hostage.”

May we pray fervently each day to make a decision to press forward with faith having a perfect brightness of hope.  May we take the challenge of our living prophet Thomas S. Monson to look to the lighthouse of the Lord. For “the lighthouse of the Lord sends forth signals readily recognized and never failing.”