Be of Good Cheer

M ost of us who profess to be a Christian have heard the story of Jesus healing the paralytic ( see: Matthew 9:2 ). Do you remember what Jesus said to him? "Be of good cheer," was the admonition He made. You might ask how this same advice applies to us today. We have economic upheaval, threats of terrorism and personal woes just to name a few things, so what is there to be cheerful about? In an article in the July, 2011 issue of Ensign magazine, Camille Fronk Olsen, Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University explains.

I n her article, Professor Olsen explains that the key to understanding this seeming contradiction can be found if we look back to the Last Supper (pictured at right). Jesus had gathered his Apostles together and was speaking to them in the final moments before Gethsemane. He said to them: " In this world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world ." And, indeed He had, because the atonement was about to become a reality and death would be no more¹ . Christ enabling power helps us to feel happiness and cheer even amid the gloom and doom that we encounter almost daily in our mortal lives. The reason for this can be explained this way: the more that we know the Savior, the longer our view becomes. In other words, the more we see His truths, the more we feel His joy.

There are, however, two (2) false assumptions which can both block our appreciation of as well as our access to His divine assistance. These are:

We can avoid tribulation

S ome people assume that if they are good enough, they can avoid bad things happening to them. They feel that if they keep all of the commandments, pay an honest tithe, and have daily prayer and scripture study, that they can assure themselves of His protection from heartache, accident, or tragedy. This simply isn't true.

I f we believe that God will shield us from tribulation strictly because of our obedience, and then adversity strikes, we might be tempted to accuse God of not hearing our prayers or, worse yet, not honoring His promises. Just because we are obedient to God isn't an insurance policy against pain and sadness. Challenges have always been in God's great plan to test our faith and, at the same time, help us to grow in humility and compassion.

T he Apostle Paul acknowledged " There was given to me a thorn in the flesh . . . to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure ," (2 Corinthians 12:7 ). Part of Christ's mission is to heal broken hearts. He came to wipe away our tears, not to ensure that we wouldn't weep. He clearly promised, "I n this world ye shall have tribulation ".

We can trust in our own efforts.

Another false assumption comes from misunderstanding 2 Nephi 25:23 - "It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do". We (of the Mormon faith) mistake this to mean that we must prove our worth through obedience and righteousness before the Lord's sacrifice will cover us or His grace enable us. This simply is not true!

We mistakenly come to believe that we can and should trust in our own efforts rather than humbly acknowledge God. This is self-righteousness and is something we need to avoid at all costs. When we do this, we are looking through the lens of our on righteousness and taking comfort in our own good efforts - a proposition that is risky at best. Remember Christ tell us that our righteousness is "as is filthy rags". (See: Isiah 64:4-9 )

Unknowingly, when we reason in this fashion, we begin to sound eerily similar to Korihor (the anti-Christ found in the Book of Alma) (See: Alma 30 ) who taught that "every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature, therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and . . . conquered according to his strength ".. This basically implies that Christ and His Atonement aren't needed and nothing could be further from the truth. I

If we allow ourselves to fall into the trap of such thinking, it can lead to attempting to justify wrongdoing because we assume that we are in control; additionally, we think we know better than others and that sin is not a problem. Don't fall for this lie and remember Christ's admonition, "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,"

To sum up, cheerfulness - at least in the spiritual context - connotes a divinely assured optimism, "a deep trust in God's unfolding purposes". When Christ proclaims, "Be of good cheer," He is not requesting a nave, Pollyanna-like response to life's cruel twist and turns. Neither is He promising a pain-free life of bliss. God would not take us "out of the world" (See: John 17:15) True happiness and satisfaction are found only by turning away from the world and coming to Christ.

1See: Psalms 30:5, James 5:11, or 2 Nephi 2