Look Up My Soul: The Divine Promise of Hope

Gerald N. Lund's newest doctrinal book, Look Up My Soul: The Divine Promise of Hope was really a terrific book. Sometimes it read like a research paper, which could feel repetitive sometimes when the author would emphasize something stated earlier in the book. But despite sounding a little repetitive at times, I found this a delightful and inspiring book.

The book teaches about trials, and how we need to accept we are going to be faced with them in this life. Life is about trials. It is not some to be pleasantly strolled through--it is meant to be endured. Hope helps us endure faithfully, relying on the promises of God, especially those promises of a better world. Lund does a fantastic job defending hope's place in the Christian triad of faith, hope, and charity.

I liked a quote he shared in the book, wherein he teaches that discouragement does not come automatically with a trial. We choose whether or not to be discouraged. We overcome this discouragement through hope, and we obtain hope through faith in Christ. This faith is obtained through scripture study and prayer. Life happens daily. That is why scripture study and prayer must happen daily as well.

We must never feel that God has abandoned us. Starting on page 257, the author shares an incredible story from Church History that I had never heard before. When the leaders of the Church were being arrested (at the time Joseph was put in Liberty Jail), mobbers paid apostates for the names of the Church leaders. Over fifty men were arrested, and yet somehow, two names were left off that list: Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball--THE TWO SENIOR MEMBERS OF THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE! How on earth could they have been overlooked? Because even at this darkest time, God was still there, preserving His people and raising up leaders who would need the experience to lead His people west.

Lund concludes his book with a remarkable insight. When we are faced with difficult trials, God rarely takes them from us when we ask Him too. More often than not, He strengthens us and helps us endure them. As in everything else, Jesus Christ is our perfect example. When He was in the garden, bleeding from every pore, He prayed and asked God to remove the trial from Him if it were possible. But it was not possible. Instead, at the moment the blood began to pour, God sent an angel to strengthen Him.

Likewise, God does not always see fit to remove our trials. But He will send us help, and He will strengthen us to endure them faithfully, triumphantly, and gloriously.