The two darkest times of my life have been right after getting my mission call and right after getting engaged to be married in the temple.
I couldn’t explain it then but I would later listen to this talk (dozens of times during my dark moments) and was able to understand the reality of Satan’s power in bringing fear, doubt, despair and darkness in an attempt to prevent me from moving forward with choices that would positively impact my life forever in building a firm foundation on Christ.
On a small scale I finally understood the dark power that Joseph Smith and Moses describe feeling right before or after their visions of God. The power was so real it almost kept me off my mission. But I did the only thing I could think to do… go forward in faith even though I felt nothing. No light, no spirit, no support from God. After months of darkness, and after making it on my mission anyway, the darkness would slowly fade and gave way to new light I had never felt before. The contrast was shocking. From that experience I could never deny that Satan exists, and that God exists. And as real and powerful as the power of Satan was in those times, it “paled in comparison” to the light and joy I felt from moving forward on God’s covenant path.
Fear and doubt are one of Satan’s greatest tools against the faithful. If he can get us to fear or doubt what we DON’T know, he can open our hearts and minds to the “bitterness of hell”, and increase our chances of walking away from what we DO know. Elder Holland’s plea is that during these moments of darkness, we “don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness.” That we “don’t retreat from a good thing.” But like Christ’s command to the children of Israel at the shores of the Red Sea, that we “fear not”, “go forward”, and “cast not away our confidence.”
You can watch Elder Holland's full address here:
• Cast Not Away Therefor...
To learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
www.churchofje...
To contact me:
parker@truemillennials.org
6 сен 2024
