Be of Good Cheer

In the final days of His mortal life, Jesus Christ told His Apostles of the persecutions and hardships they would suffer. He concluded with this great assurance: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” That is the Savior’s message to all of our Heavenly Father’s children. That is the ultimate good news for each of us in our mortal lives.

“Be of good cheer” was also a needed assurance in the world into which the resurrected Christ sent His Apostles. “We are troubled on every side,” the Apostle Paul later told the Corinthians, “yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”

Two thousand years later we are also “troubled on every side,” and we also need that same message not to despair but to be of good cheer. The Lord has special love and concern for His precious daughters. He knows of your wants, your needs, and your fears. The Lord is all powerful. Trust Him.

I love the acknowledgement that “we are troubled, we are perplexed.” Also, note that “to despair” is not the same as experiencing depression. Despairing is choosing to focus on the negative and people can do that with depression or without just as they can sell to see reasons for optimism, whether they have depression or not.

The Prophet Joseph Smith was taught that “the works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught.” To His struggling children, the Lord gave these great assurances:

“Behold, this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants.

“Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God.”

The Lord stands near us, and He has said:

“What I say unto one I say unto all, be of good cheer, little children; for I am in your midst, and I have not forsaken you.”

Each call to “be of good cheer” includes a reason for optimism. It is never just a call to gut things out without context.

As you know, the mortal adversities of which I speak—which make it difficult to be of good cheer—sometimes come to us in common with many others, like the millions now struggling through some of the many devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, in the United States millions are suffering through a season of enmity and contention that always seems to accompany presidential elections but this time is the most severe many of the oldest of us can ever remember.

On a personal basis, each of us struggles individually with some of the many adversities of mortality, such as poverty, racism, ill health, job losses or disappointments, wayward children, bad marriages or no marriages, and the effects of sin—our own or others’.

Yet, in the midst of all of this, we have that heavenly counsel to be of good cheer and to find joy in the principles and promises of the gospel and the fruits of our labors. That counsel has always been so, for prophets and for all of us. We know this from the experiences of our predecessors and what the Lord said to them.

His acknowledgement that the enmity of this election (remember that this was before the election and cries of fraud and an attempted insurrection) is greater than any in his memory helps validate the feelings of those of us who are younger that this one was outside the range of normal. And once again, the call to be of good cheer is in the context of placing focus on the promises if the gospel, not denial of challenges.

Sisters, the First Presidency is concerned about your challenges. We love you and pray for you. At the same time, we often give thanks that our physical challenges—apart from earthquakes, fires, floods, and hurricanes—are usually less than our predecessors faced.

In the midst of hardships, the divine assurance is always “be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.” How does this happen? How did it happen for the pioneers? How will it happen to women of God today? By our following prophetic guidance, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against [us],” the Lord said by revelation in April 1830. “Yea,” He said, “… the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory.” “Fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.”

“I will lead you along, the kingdom is yours and the blessings are yours…if ye are built upon my rock {the powers of darkness} cannot prevail.” And it seems that the powers of darkness prevailing would be defined as taking the kingdom and blessings and riches of eternity from us.