The Real Enemy

When I feel frustrated, inadequate, discouraged, my knee-jerk reaction is to identify where the problem is so that I can get past it.  The sooner I can get back to a “good place,” the better. So whatever is rocking the boat is the enemy. Often, I look to place blame on someone who has criticized or demeaned me.  Sometimes I feel that what is happening is “not fair.” I know that I tend to have an extreme sense of justice.

One of the mistakes I’ve made is misidentifying the real enemy.  

Satan strives to keep me stuck, to stop my progress.  He wants me to be damned, like he is. But he is very subtle.  He doesn’t make his presence obviously known to me. As Nephi says, “Others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.”

Elder Renlund was specific when he taught: Lucifer is this accuser. He spoke against us in the premortal existence, and he continues to denounce us in this life. He seeks to drag us down. He wants us to experience endless woe. He is the one who tells us we are not adequate, the one who tells us we are not good enough, the one who tells us there is no recovery from a mistake. He is the ultimate bully, the one who kicks us when we are down.

If Lucifer were teaching a child to walk and the child stumbled, he would scream at the child, punish him, and tell him to quit trying. Lucifer’s ways bring discouragement and despair—eventually and always. This father of lies is the ultimate purveyor of falsehood and cunningly works to deceive and distract us, “for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.”

Pres. Nelson added:  The adversary is increasing his attacks on faith and upon us and our families at an exponential rate. To survive spiritually, we need counterstrategies and proactive plans.

So, one of my counterstrategies is this:  When I feel like life (or someone) isn’t treating me fairly, I stop and realize that Satan has a vested interest in me.  He’ll do what he can to cause me to react out of fear, or shame, or pride. If I can recognize where that’s coming from, I can reframe my thinking and choose a healthier reaction.  

If I’ve had an argument with someone, rather than saying to myself that I’m not good at communicating, I can recognize that the devil “stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.”  And I can set a boundary around faulty thinking, which helps me avoid the perfectionistic mindset.

When I come to realize that I and my fellow beings are not the enemy, I can adjust my thinking and my focus.  I can appropriately fortify myself against the real enemy.

To be continued . . . with Part 47