Okay In The End

Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end. ―This has been attributed to John Lennon, as well as Fernando Sabino, but more recently dialog in the movie Best Exotic Marigold Hotel attributes it to Indian proverb.

Are you a worry wart? Does life stress you out on a daily basis? I’m married to a worry wart, but I tend to live by my mother’s creed, “Everything always comes out in the wash.” This does not mean that I don’t stress about things. There has been plenty of stress in my life. Life is a roller coaster, and we just have to ride it out. I trust that everything will be okay in the end.

Life’s challenges are hard to deal with, but what about the end of your life? I know someone who has tried his whole life to believe in God. He really wants to believe, but he just can’t believe what he can’t see. He wants proof positive, and we all know that’s not the way it works. There must be faith. He is more than 80 years old now, and his life is near its end. There is an undercurrent of worry in every single day of his life. He doesn’t expect anything else after the day he dies. He thinks it is truly “the end” for him—but it is not. He is going to have a pleasant surprise—and a lot of work to do. He will be okay in the end, but death is not the end. He will have a lot of learning to do.

Now, the next thing of which I am certain, and of which I bear witness, is the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without it life is meaningless. It is the keystone in the arch of our existence. It affirms that we lived before we were born in mortality. Mortality is but a stepping-stone to a more glorious existence in the future. The sorrow of death is softened with the promise of the Resurrection. There would be no Christmas if there were no Easter. (Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Things of Which I Know”, Apr. 2007 General Conference)

President Hinckley died on January 27, 2008, less than one year after giving that talk. No, death is not the end. There will be a glorious existence in the future. We can count on that and look forward to it.

So what about the end of the earth? What happens to our gorgeous planet in the end?

Doctrine and Covenants 88:25-26 says:

25 And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law—

26 Wherefore, it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.

These two verses are beautiful to me. I love our gorgeous earth, and it makes me happy to know that it will be even more beautiful than it is now—more beautiful than we can imagine. It will be “renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory” (Articles of Faith 1:10). Everything will be okay in the end for the earth itself, as well as for the righteous.

There is a lot that has to happen before “the end”, which is really only the beginning, and not all of it is pretty. There will be significant trials, tribulations, wickedness, and persecution. The tares will be gathered and burned, and the wicked separated from the righteous (Matthew 13:40, 49). None of that will be easy, obviously. If we think we are going through trials now, we need to understand that there is much more to come. If it is not okay, it is not the end. Everything will be okay in the end.

That is what we need to hang on and sink our teeth into. Heavenly Father knows the plan and will execute it in full measure. He knows the end. We just need to trust Him and endure to the end. Satan will eventually be destroyed and Christ will reign. If we have hope and faith, everything will be okay in the end for us, as well as the earth itself.

The result of [Christ’s] sacrifice is to free us from the effects of sin, that all may have guilt erased and feel hope. . . A testimony of the hope of redemption is something which cannot be measured or counted. Jesus Christ is the source of that hope (Boyd K. Packer, “The Reason for Our Hope”, Oct. 2014 General Conference).

To read more of Tudie’s articles, click here.

Jesus Christ is the source of all our hopes. He is our Savior, Redeemer, Friend, and Brother. I want to have a relationship with Him that is personal and special. He is my hope. He is the reason I can say with surety that everything will be okay in the end. Everything always comes out in the wash.