Patient Hope and Still in Action

Dear friends,

We live in a world that often rewards speed, noise, and visibility. Yet the quiet strength of patient hope—the kind that waits with purpose and moves with trust—is among the most powerful forces for good in our lives.

As early Christian Tertullian once said, “Hope is patient with the lamp lit.” True hope doesn’t just sit idle; it stays ready, watching for the dawn, lamp in hand. Similarly, Samuel Smiles compared hope to the sun: “Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” These words remind us that hope shifts our burdens—not by eliminating them, but by helping us see them differently as we move forward.

This is not passive waiting. Patient hope is infused with action. In recovery and in faith, we learn that we must do something—pray, write, serve, walk forward even when we don’t see the whole path.

As the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous teaches: “You can’t think your way into right action, but you can act your way into right thinking.” This echoes the invitation in James 2: “Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” Abraham’s belief was not an inner feeling only—it moved his feet and shaped his choices. His faith lived through action.

Likewise, modern prophets have reminded us that “Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21). That faith is always active. As Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said:

“Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. Without these three, we cannot stand. But with them, we can rise above our trials and walk forward with courage.”

Hope helps us walk—and sometimes stumble—into the next right step.

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

“The Lord loves effort. And effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.”

That doesn’t mean we rush ahead blindly or act without thought. Patient hope is wise. It waits on the Lord while continuing to plant, water, serve, and love. One day at a time, we live in the trust that our “potential comes as a gift,” and as the anonymous quote reminds us, “the value of the gift can only be seen in the actions of our lives.”

John F. Kennedy warned of the risk of “comfortable inaction.” Benjamin Disraeli put it more positively: “Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” In our walk with Christ and in our recovery journeys, this rings deeply true.

Hope does not demand immediate change. But it asks us to keep going—keep trying, keep loving, keep stepping forward. That is stillness in motion, peace with purpose, patience that acts.

So today, let’s keep the lamp lit. Let’s be still—but not stuck. Let’s move—but not rush. Let us embrace the sacred partnership of patient hope and meaningful action.

In wisdom of our savior Jesus Christ.  Amen