Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice:

Coming Out of Darkness

By President James E. Faust

Second Counselor in the First Presidency

From a Church Educational System fireside address given on September 8, 2002.

Photograph by Busath Photography

President Faust teaches that faith brings us out of darkness.

My dear young friends, some of you may wonder what the future holds for you. Not only may some of you be unsure about where you are going, you may also be questioning your real worth. Let me assure you, I believe with all my heart that you are a chosen generation.

Micah said, “When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me” (Micah 7:8). We receive light from the Lord. This can happen to us when we study the scriptures, attend sacrament meeting, pay our tithing, sing the hymns, and pray.

Part of our coming into the light depends upon the focus of our faith. Our faith is not a bundle of beliefs and practices that are too heavy to bear. Those who have come out of the darkness find that their faith carries them. Faith is not heavy; faith lifts and gives us wings to carry us over hard places. As Isaiah promised, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa. 40:31).

Coming out of the darkness into the light frees us from the dark side of our souls, which comes from fear, discouragement, and sin. When we come out of the darkness, the bright sunshine of the Savior comes bursting through.

The most sure way to come out of darkness and into the light is through communication with our Heavenly Father by the process known as divine revelation. If we do not follow the living prophet, whoever he may be, we are in danger of dying spiritually.

I testify to you young people that the gospel contains the answers to life’s challenges and problems. It is the sure way to happiness and the fulfillment of the Savior’s promise, which is “peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (D&C 59:23).

Photograph by David Stoker, posed by model