Satan is real. He wants to make a mess of our lives. He does not want us to choose those things that will lead us to be righteous servants of God. He wants NO benefit for God. Instead, he wants to confuse us, lull us into coasting through life with a passive, “all is well” perspective so we feel okay enough to exist but not committed enough to prosper spiritually. This is how he paralyzes God’s work. He does this through adding good options in our lives, things that are fun and take up our time, but don’t require us to assess our spiritual growth in and through them. It is a sneaky tactic that plagues our world. Passivity. Knowing what you want in the end and being able to decipher the steps now that take you there is so important. All of the confusion and distractions in between there is Satan hard at work. It is important to be able to recognize it for what it is. I plead with you! Please, please, please look closely at your life and identify the areas where Satan in messing with you, stalling your progression. It not only affects you, but your generations and the people in your life. That is why he loves it so much; if he can mess us up from choosing the right course in our lives, it also takes all of the other people in our lives (now and in the future) off track. It’s a rippling effect that slows progression way down.
Tools Satan uses:
- Fear. Fear can be paralyzing. Fear of messing up. Fear of disapproval of other people. All of it halts us and stalls our progression towards God.
- Anger. Anger fills our hearts and doesn’t allow space for anything good or tender to exist within us.
- Distractions. Distractions take us off course and can make us miss opportunities that God has placed in our paths for us. Don’t be fooled by them.
- Comfort. Comfort can make us not want to try for anything better in our lives.
- Resentment. Resentment hardens our hearts over time. President Nelson has recently asked us to resolve the contentions in our lives for this purpose exactly. We need to have soft, open hearts to hear the Savior’s voice in our lives.
- Busyness. Busyness is a form of distraction. President Hinckley and President Nelson have urged us to slow down and create time to be still, to hear the Lord in our lives, to learn of Him.
- Worldly Influences. Influences and voices from the world can be so confusing, even when they come from people we love. They might even reason out to seem true, but this might not always be the case. Confirming the truth of the influential voices in our lives with the peace of the Spirit is so important to do. “Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?” – D&C 6:23
- Loneliness. This one is a killer for me. It is hard for me to be long-suffering in loneliness.
I know, in my life, I’ve been struggling to identify Satan’s influences. Sometimes I don’t know if what I feel is real or justified. I can reason out so many things in my life that seem to warrant justification for anger and resentment, but then I really don’t want to feel those things in my life. I don’t want to give anger and resentment any space at all within me. It’s stupid of me to allow Satan so much space in my life, to let him mess me up with those things, so I just let them go, but then they just seem to keep circling. I want peace in my life. Only peace. I know that I need to stay close to the Savior to have that, and that I do that through prayer, temple attendance, scripture study, service, and lots of repentance. I am fighting to hang on. I am trying.
Forever Grateful to get to keep trying.
