There's always hope

As I posted last week, conscious choices can help us be happy now.  Yet many singles, not seeing any obvious opportunities for marriage feel bereft of hope.

Fundamentally, their lack of hope doesn’t differ from anyone else with righteous desires that appear difficult to fulfill.  A good example is the righteous married couple who trying but unable to have biological children.

Yet in all cases hope abounds.  No matter how dark or bleak your circumstances may appear, you always have reason to hope.  There is always hope because there is always Christ.

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Focus on Christ

How do you feel this great truth when all around you seems dismal?  Almost all of us believe very readily in miracles that Christ performed among a people most of us don’t know in a land far away which most of us haven’t seen.  Yet when it comes to believing in miracles performed in our own lives and in our own backyard, we respond more slowly.  We need to start believing Him in everything.

Gospel truth encourages that belief.  Many wrongs fill this life.  Knowing God has apportioned a time when all wrongs will be righted makes patience easier when things you don't want to happen do in fact happen.  Knowing a just God won’t wait to right our wrongs when the time to right them is right also encourages patience.  There is always hope because there is always Christ.

Of course, understanding those truths doesn't always appease the longing that pains the heart in the present moment.  Because your focus determines your reality, focusing on your pains yields a reality of pain.  Focus instead on the Savior so that He becomes your reality. His strength can give you strength.

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We're all on a journey

Christ didn't teach that all of His promised blessings would come only after death.  Nor did He teach that those blessings would be distributed like lunch on a buffet table — first come are first served and everyone else will just have to wait.  He wants all to enjoy all of His promised blessings.  That means you.

Because you're unique in personality and demeanor, so also are the gifts you've been given to help you achieve your full potential.  Just as in the parable of the talents, all who improve upon what they've been given, whatever that original amount may be, will be received into the joy of the Lord.  That joy can fill you now as well as in times to come.  There is always hope because there is always Christ.

In addition, we find each other at different points in our life journey.  Christ wants all to enjoy all the blessings promised to the faithful.  Yet some of the faithful, because of where they are in their life journey, may not be ready for some of those blessings.

In the case of marriage, both parties must be ready in order for the arrangement to bring a fullness of joy into the lives of both parties.  If you're yearning for that special someone and wonder why you don't have the blessing you desire, consider that you might not be ready.  Or maybe your companion isn’t ready.  Or perhaps the time is right for both of you and you simply need to get busy doing the right things.  In any case, Christ can help you.  There is always hope because there is always Christ.

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Expand your vision

If you're seeing with no more than your physical eyes, then ultimately you'll have no hope, especially if you don’t physically see the means to achieve your desires.  Even here, there is always hope because there is always Christ.

Christ can help you to see with spiritual eyes.  He can help you to see what’s there but not seen with physical eyes.  What you want may be right in front of you.  But because of the way you’ve been thinking, you may not recognize it as such.  When you expand your definition of an opportunity, you’ll see paths you couldn’t see before.

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Christ can also help you to see what is not now in existence because it has yet to be created.  What you desire may be something He creates for you.  Or maybe you need to create it for yourself.  In all cases, Christ will help you to do whatever is needful for you to receive all of the blessings which He desires to give to you.  There is always hope because there is always Christ.

Don’t ever stop living for the righteous blessings you desire.  And don’t ever lose hope.  No matter your situation, there’s always something you can do to move forward.  There is always hope because there is always Christ.

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