33 – Satan is Real and So Is The Battlefeatured

It was dark. It was stressful. I felt very alone. I felt attacked. I felt hated. I am deeply grateful that three of those sentiments have changed, and the other two are more manageable in my current life. I took my own advice (post 31) and returned to my journal from the early days of losing my membership and remembered the feelings and just how heavy it was initially. This post is written from the perspective of those darkest days and the vision I now have of them.

What comes to mind for me is the third verse of “Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel”.  “Then don’t stand idly looking on, the fight with sin is real. It will be long but must go on, put your shoulder to the wheel”. As a child those words felt more vague – the battle was the Lord’s Church fighting to bring the Gospel into communist countries or with other religions that wouldn’t recognize its validity. Now it feels much more personal. Now it is me against Satan.

IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A BATTLE

Father Lehi taught us in 2 Nephi 2:11 that there must be “opposition in all things”. Without opposition, there becomes no good OR bad. We would be “as dead, having no life neither death”. I envision that as a stagnant lukewarm backwater that has no value to anyone, it just festers. No one wants to drink from that.

So you and I have opposition, and because of our choices, we have piled on the problems.  If we have lost our membership it is because we chose to sin. We stopped pushing with all our “might, mind and strength” (D&C 4:2) at the wheel and allowed Satan’s negotiating tactics to convince us to choose the wrong. Maybe – and this is a scary thought – we have adopted Satan’s negotiating tactics and are now arguing the points of contention from his standpoint. 

The water can get muddy and hard to see through, and Satan loves it that way. We can feel misunderstood or judged. The process can make us feel loved but unwanted. The conflict can consume our thoughts. It is easy to feel condemned, and that can feel much like hatred. And sometimes we are hated. It becomes frustrating and confusing. It gets heavier – and then darker. We want to defend ourselves, so we get back to pushing, but in the mix of emotions, it is easy to get turned around and start pushing from the wrong end of the cart. 

BOTH SIDES LOOK FOR THEIR OPPORTUNITIES

God is real, and so is Satan. God is interested in our lives and choices, and so is Satan. I remember learning as a missionary that people are more willing to listen to the Gospel of Jesus Christ at certain points in their lives. Births, deaths, illnesses and even moves can make people more contemplative about life and its purpose. Satan also uses opportunities that arise. He looks for times when we are more susceptible to throwing in the towel and giving up on our true purpose.

What moments are on Satan’s list? What points are there in a person’s life when they are closer to giving up or giving in? What about you, right now, as you experience loss of membership with its embarrassment and the feelings of being shunned? Do you think you are more open to hearing Satan’s messaging presented in the philosophies of men? It sure becomes easier to justify behavior and choices instead of working through the challenges. But will you?

BOTH SIDES HAVE REASONS TO NOT SHOW THEIR CARDS

God does not show His full manifestation of power in our lives. If He did, there would be little room for us to be tested by faith. If we had a full knowledge of everything He can and does do for us, we would not need to develop our faith and we would not learn of our own strength to face sin.  Satan likewise uses subtle efforts to influence our thinking and behavior. If he didn’t mask his presence, most of us would be terrified to see his full nature and would run from him as Joseph did from Potiphar’s wife. (Gen 39:11)

This is evidenced in the story of Abraham as related in Moses 1. Abraham had a very personal experience with our Heavenly Father wherein he discovered who God really was, what He has accomplished, and his own identity as a child of God. Once Abraham came to know God, it was clear to him where he came from and what his potential was. When Satan came along offering what he had to offer it was easy for Abraham to choose God’s path. And it always was Abraham’s choice.

It is also your choice and mine, but we must be aware it is not a choice between God and staying home and watching TV on Sunday. It is a choice between God’s plan and Satan’s. I’m not calling TV Satan, I’m saying that whatever we choose to do in order to avoid God is likely worse than sitting “idly by” as the hymn warns. Staying away from Jesus Christ is not being neutral. We are always being pulled one way or the other. 

EVERYBODY IS PREACHING SOMETHING

I have heard people say they don’t like religion because they don’t like being preached to. But the reality is that everyone is preaching. The television is a pulpit for preaching. Influencers are all over social media. The programs we watch promote and glamorize a certain worldview – whether it is God’s or Satan’s – or sometimes a deceptive blend. The music we hear most often leads our mindset to God’s thinking or to Satan’s. What we watch on our screens, what a celebrity says into a microphone or what a politician tries to convince us is all preaching. 

To be fair, we must admit that just because we hear it at church it is not necessarily the doctrine of Jesus Christ either. There will be people who say things from time to time in the hallways, in lessons or even over the pulpit in Sacrament meetings that are not right. But that does not mean we stop attending church any more than we stop paying attention to what is going on in the world. 

HOW DO YOU FILTER IT ALL?

When hikers and backpackers go on longer trails, they bring a water filtration pump rather than carrying large amounts of heavy water. When they draw water, they look for flowing water rather than stagnant pools. Flowing water is naturally purer and therefore easier for the filter to clean. The filter also becomes less clogged over time. Like the hiker using a water filtration unit to get the purest water, we are going to be more successful drawing truth from the Church and the activities it promotes than from what the world offers. Certainly, there is good to be found almost anywhere and we cannot live insular lives, but a hiker will always be cautious with where they draw the water that they will consume.

This life on earth is not a passive experience, especially right now, for you and me. We must be very aware and contemplate whose preaching we are going to live by.  Of course, it is always important to be vigilant, but it is even more so at this pivotal time in our lives

If we are currently fighting an addiction the battle is even harder. I learned as a bishop that while we may have followed Satan’s philosophies into addiction, the addictive behaviors can still be there once we have decided to leave him. The actions are not always because of a choice to sin, but rather a loss of self-control that needs to be regained.  If you are in a battle with addiction, you will be most likely to overcome it by seeking capable support while focusing on God. The 12-step programs of AA and the Addiction Recovery Program (ARP) are powerful for those who commit to them. 

Now is the time for you and me to have our eyes wide open. It is vital to see the source of our thoughts and feelings as well as the effect they have on our minds and hearts. Satan wants us every bit as much as our Heavenly Parents do. He wants us, but he will not support us or be there for us in the long run. He wants us to not become who we can become.

KORIHOR TAUGHT US MORE THAN HE INTENDED

In Alma chapter 30 we learn of the pattern and fate of those who choose Satan’s tactics and arguments. Korihor was very skilled in words and must have had a charismatic personality. He effectively led many away from the Church with his teachings. He argued against the “foolish traditions” handed down through the generations. He preached that we “cannot know that there shall be (or is) a Christ” and that those who believe do so because of “a frenzied mind”.

The arguments Satan uses today are essentially the same, but they do not necessarily start out as combative or opposing. His views and ideas are quietly slipped into what we see in movies and hear from people preaching from pulpits not found in chapels. It does not take long before we start looking for things which upset our spirits rather than settle them. We can begin to feel a sense of duty to look for perceived injustices and oppressions to either justify our feelings or to feel part of something – particularly when we have been trying to find a connection to a purpose or a group in our lives. It is not that we have an established set of principles to build our newfound purpose on – just that we see something that we can feel righteously upset about. It becomes an alternate religion with no structure or value. I have noticed that while misery does love company, my spiritual heroes seem content standing alone in the crowd if need be.

It’s not a bad thing to see injustice and seek to help others, but we must see what is going on through the right vision and with a set of principles from which to help. We must see the big picture and the true source of what we now think is a problem. Just being upset and stirring up feelings of frustration does not help if they do not lead toward a foundation for growth and improvement. Korihor had nothing to offer beyond frustration and overturning a tradition that promoted the eternal nature of individuals and families. In reality, he did not offer anything.  His quest was to bring division and contention in this life and then “when a man is dead that was the end thereof”. 

Korihor was successful for a time using Satan’s tactics, but we all know how it ended. Satan did not and could not support Korihor in fighting against God. The reward for seeking things that upset our spirits is simply more of the same. More anger. More frustration. More contention. Ultimately “The devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell”. (Alma 30:60) 

THE CHOICES WE HAVE

So that is our battle – always has been and always will be. Everyone is preaching something, and we put our faith in either God or Satan based on whose preaching we adhere to. Just be fully aware that everything either leads us toward or away from our eternal purpose and peace in this life.

Going through a loss of membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is full of heavy and profound feelings and experiences. At this crossroads, you and I are squarely on the radar of both God and Satan. Others are focussing on us as well. Some are praying for us and offering support while others may be shunning and hoping in their hearts for us to never make it back. I have felt that keenly and suppose that you have also. 

As France fell to Nazi Germany in WW2 Winston Churchill, the prime minister of England, gave a speech to his country on the two possible outcomes as the Battle of Britain began. “The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be upon us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us… or lose the war.” He spoke of the light that would prevail with victory and the darkness that the world would sink into if they failed. 

Churchill went on to say “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour’” (Finest Hour speech)

THE POTENTIAL WE HAVE

As you and I stand at this crossroads of light and dark in our own lives we will make decisions that matter – really matter. They will not only matter to us, but they will also matter to our families, our forebearers and our grandchildren. Once time passes and the proverbial dust settles, how we move forward from this point will affect generations. Yes, some, or possibly all in our circle, have been negatively impacted by our past actions, but what we do next matters even more now. What impact might our lives have on them as we fight our way through the dark opposition to make the changes that need to be made and stand once again in the Light of Christ?

The day will come when we stand before God and look at our mortal experience with Him. The opportunity is hanging in the balance today for God to be able to say something like this: “I knew you would sin – I knew everyone would. I am grateful that you accepted the Atonement of My Son Jesus Christ. I am grateful that at that most pivotal moment in your life you chose Me. That was your finest hour”. I am working towards that day with all my heart.