It's Been Hard Lately.

It’s been a crazy last couple months years. We’ve seen a pandemic, wars, contention, inexplicable acts of violence, and more. It seems everyday there is something new in the world to fear.

This also doesn’t account for the personal struggles we go through: mental illness, trauma, addiction, sickness, and a slew of others.

I know for me personally it has been so difficult sometimes to just get out of bed — let alone read a scripture or poor out your soul in a prayer.

This morning I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep. For some reason, instead of hoping on Twitter or YouTube or something, I opened up the most recent devotional from President and Sister Nelson (I hope you can read it today because it really helped me to see life in a new light, and find some hope).

As I was reading, I had a thought that could help. It’s a simple one, but those may be the best kind. “Don’t forget Christ“.

In all of my worry, in all of my looking for answers, in all of my wrestling with Church History, in all of my sadness it becomes easy to shut down and hide. But as I thought more of Christ this morning and I thought more of what he has done for me I felt peace… for the first time in a long time. Even just looking through the lens, that is Christ and His teachings, life seemed a whole lot more hopeful.

This all reminded me of a verse Jacob 4:14:

[They] despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark[.]

The ‘mark‘ that they missed was Jesus Christ. That’s it, they just weren’t looking at Him, they weren’t thinking about Him.

I guess, what I’m trying to say is, even in todays world and in every world— there is peace to be found, there is hope to be had. Because there is Jesus Christ. Always!

Read these devotionals to feel the hope for the future that the Prophet and his Wife has for each of us.