The Hope of the Atonement

I am a natural born doubter. It's true. There isn't much I want to change about who I am, fundamentally, anyway. I appreciate my good qualities. I'm grateful for my talents. However, I am a doubter and a skeptic. And while some may pride themselves on such traits, I find them nagging and difficult. At times I just want to shut that voice off in my mind that says, "Well, how do you know for sure? You can't know for sure. Nothing is certain."

However, I am stubborn, too. Often enough I have felt the hope of the atonement to be a true believer in Jesus Christ. My stubborn side tells me that whatever doubts might come, I know that I have felt the Spirit tell me Christ is real. And what does that feel like? It feels like hope. And what does hope feel like? Hope feels like joy. Joy testifies to me that Christ came, that He lived, that His suffering was real. Most importantly, it tells me that after all His suffering, He arose on the third day. Doctrine and Covenants 76:22, "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!" He lives. After all the sermons, the miracles, and the suffering, I am most grateful to know that Christ still lives.

Isn't that a marvel? 2 Nephi 2: 25 teaches this about joy, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy." If Adam fell, why are we to have joy? Because Christ came. Because Christ atoned for our sins. Because we have hope in this. Yes, hope for me is joy. Joy when I know that whatever may come, Christ atoned for my life so that I can live again.