Fear Not

Some people are discouraged. Some people are fearful. Some people feel hopeless.

I once had a few months during my junior year when I was feeling discouraged and hopeless. I felt like I was constantly making the same mistakes and that things would never improve.

But then I came across this passage that completely changed the way I felt inside for the next few weeks.

"Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets."

-3 Nephi 1: 13

I love this Book of Mormon verse because it is the Savior speaking to a group of people who were fearful. They, a group of people who were trying to trust in God that things would work out, found themselves in a situation when it seemed like things weren't going to work out. They were even in danger of losing their lives. But in this verse, the Lord comforts them and tells them to "be of good cheer." In this particular verse, He announces His miraculous birth the morrow. Though this happened over 2,000 years ago and the Savior isn't necessarily physically coming to the earth tomorrow like was the case in this situation, I feel comfort in the fact that our Savior can come into our hearts and lives tomorrow. He can comfort us and let us feel His love. He can give us the hope that we need tomorrow and the day after that. And with that hope will come strength--I saw that in my life during that period of my life in 11th grade when I felt the weight of a seemingly hopeless future.

I know that there is always hope. Even when it doesn't feel like it.

I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father not only invites, but commands us to "fear not" (Luke 2:10). We truly need not fear because Christ is the "good tidings of great joy." The light and power of the hope He offers us because of what He has done for us is infinitely more powerful than the sometimes scary moments of mortality. I truly believe that we don't need to have all of the answers now-- we can walk by faith and turn to Him for strength in scary, confusing, or unsure times.

Please remember that no matter what is going on in the world around you, no matter what others may say, and even no matter how you feel about yourself, you are loved. You are a child of God. And you-- yes, YOU--are known of and loved by Him, powerfully and individually. And so are all of the people that you and I interact with each day. They are children of God, and they are loved. Never forget that.