Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024.
Thousands of years ago, the psalmist wrote these comforting words: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). That message of faith and hope is just as needed today, because nights of weeping haven’t gone away. Often, when darkness descends in our lives, we can’t help but wonder if the light will ever return. But it always does come, and with it the chance for improvement and renewal.
We don’t have to see the light to believe it is there. That’s what faith is — to hope for things that are not seen but that are true (see Hebrews 11:1; Alma 32:21). Our hope and faith, if they are to have any depth or meaning, must rest on something greater than ourselves. To produce renewal and rescue from the heartaches of life, faith and hope need to be centered in Jesus Christ.
One night, a young mother was up late, worrying about a situation involving one of her children. She needed to make a decision and wasn’t sure what to do. So, she called her older and wiser friend for some advice. The friend listened and told her: “Be sure to pray before you go to bed. Wait until the morning to make your decision. Everything seems better in the morning.” And it did. The next morning, the young mother was able to think more clearly and feel more peace about what to do. Her faith and hope in the Lord gave her the peace she needed and then the courage to act.
Faith and hope are, after all, principles of action and power. Faith doesn’t mean just thinking about how much you believe in God. And hope doesn’t mean just wishing He’ll intervene. Sometimes faith and hope require waiting patiently on the Lord, but more often they require following Him courageously.
Faith is what empowers us to walk in the Lord’s ways with confidence that He will guide us. And hope is what inspires us to keep going, even when the way is dark, with unshakable trust that the light will come. Along the way, we find that the faith and hope that started us on our journey grow as we continue to move forward. Perhaps this is why we call Jesus Christ both the Author and the Finisher of our faith and hope (see Hebrews 12:2).
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
