It seems like a strange concept doesn’t it? Let me tell what sparked my thoughts, then I’ll explain how they apply to a disciple’s life.

Last night I happened across a headline that caught my eye. Maybe you saw it, too. It advertised a 5-year-old piano prodigy. Some of us might completely ignore the hype that often surrounds a child’s prodigy status, but this one held an extra set of unique circumstances. Yes, she’s five and yes, she plays better than I ever could, but she’s also blind and was adopted after being abandoned as an infant.

I do not pretend to understand what might have caused this child’s mother to leave her, but my heartbreaks for both the child and the mother. I also wonder if this particular mother knows what her child has shown herself capable of. I wonder if it’s a case of hindsight: if she had known the beauty and power her child possessed, would the mother’s choices have been altered? Again, I can’t know.

I can only try to apply what I’ve learned to my own life. This small video clip on the internet, stirred something in my heart. Have there been times in my own life where something has seemed too hard, too different, or too insignificant that I have tossed them aside without ever seeing the gift that God had in mind for me through them? Have I only seen a rock, which I should have refined and polished to find the gem underneath? If I had only stuck with a particular challenge longer would I be better off now? Has God given me a special talent or blessing that I have ignored because I was too intent on seeing and magnifying my own inadequacies instead of my unique qualities?

I thought of times in the scriptures where Christ, or one of His servants, issued advice or a task to be performed. I wondered if I had ever been like some who, in response to the Lord’s command, went away discouraged thinking that it couldn’t possibly be the answer to the problem. Or, have I received a gift from Him and not recognized it as such or not given Him thanks and credit for filling my life with His love.

I say and feel that I am loved personally and individually by my Father in Heaven, but I still think there are plenty of times in my own life when I forget, or simply can not comprehend how vast and significant that love is. Nurturing and loving us is at the very center of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s nature and character. The Savior’s perfect love is just that— perfect. But I am far from it. I sometimes overlook the little, and the big, things that trickle down from heaven because of this love and the miracle of the atonement every day.

In the Book of Mormon, there is a passage that I think I need to remember a little more often.

But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love. (2 Nephi 1:15)

His arms are constantly around us, with His heart close to ours. But the world and our own human frailties can overwhelm and block out its soft, comforting beat.

It might be that we’ve let ourselves become caught up in more than we can handle, or even the wrong things. Consider Mary and Martha. Martha was a good person. She loved the Savior. She was His disciple. She was excited to have Him in her home. But, she was so engrossed in her chores (and the stress associated with them) that she missed out on a portion of the love and peace Christ was trying to share with her that day. In this world I think it’s very easy for each of us to become so caught up in “have-to”, “need-to”, and “should” that the stress becomes overwhelming. It pushes out the presence of the Spirit http://www.mormonwiki.com/Holy_Ghost in our lives and helps us to forget to bring Him back. Though we can see the Savior in the distance we just can’t seem to “catch up” so that we can catch up with Him. We forget that Jesus Christ has offered us the chance to walk beside Him, not run after Him, short of breath, and unsure of the way.

Another possibility is that we’ve noticed how far behind we seem to be. We know we’ve fallen by the wayside or feel that we can never match up to what the Savior requires of His disciples. Do we refuse His blessings because they couldn’t possibly be meant for us? Somewhere in the back of our minds, do we feel that only those that seem to be so much better than us deserve or receive His love? As false as that thought might be, it is common. We mistakenly think salvation can be handled in the same way that everything else on our to-do list is: figure out what needs to be done, do it, and mark it off the list. Life isn’t “done” once, it happens every day in every way. The walk with Christ is still a walk, not a sit-down-on-a park-bench-and-watch-everybody-else-go-by, experience. He bids us “come” not “arrive”.

It might be that we simply don’t recognize the blessing hidden among the trials and chaos. I think of another scripture found in the Book of Mormon:

And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things. (1 Nephi 11:22)

I envision a mighty tree that is reaching out, trying to cover me with shade and protection. Then, I think of the humble beginnings of any tree. Every plant, including a tree, begins as a seed. It really doesn’t look like much but it has miracles hidden inside. If it’s given nourishment it grows, but even then it can be mistaken for something of no consequence. Then, there’s my favorite analogy. Have you ever re-potted a plant? What would have happened if you pulled out the tender plant, took one look at the jumbled and tangled roots, said “nothing good can possibly come from this mess!” and thrown the whole thing away. It’s difficult to understand that our seemingly chaotic roots hold up some of the most beautiful parts of our lives.

Heavenly Father is giving us the best and most desirable gifts every day; yet, at every stage we can overlook or reject God’s blessings. Have you rejected a blessing lately? Have you lost sight of Christ and feel that it isn’t possible to walk beside Him as He invites? Look again. You never know what amazing gift can be hiding in the corners of life.

Satan’s sole purpose in his life is to make everyone as miserable as he is, and the best way to do this is to battle truth. If he can turn people away from God, the Savior, and the saving doctrines, he can make people miserable and win his battle. He has a variety of methods he employs in this battle. Knowing some of them can help us protect ourselves from him. The Book of Mormon suggests several of these methods for us to evaluate and prepare to fight.

For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good. (2 Nephi 28:20)

Sometimes when I ask people visiting my church why they came, they tell me they attended some classes on “witnessing” to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes nicknamed Mormons) and were taken aback by the rage against our church expressed in those classes. They decided to come and see for themselves if the classes were telling the truth. They felt the church, to inspire such rage must be truly evil or be so true Satan was afraid of it and trying to keep people away. Often those people convert after visiting a while and realizing the church had been unintentionally misrepresented, which led to a desire to find out for themselves what was true.

In the political field, we see great rage against those who choose to obey God instead of man. They are labeled bigots, old-fashioned, out of touch…anything that might embarrass them into “conforming.” True Christians understand that truth is truth and God’s truth matters more than the fleeting views of a self-centered world.

21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

Some people don’t need rage to lead them away. All they need to do is put on what is sometimes called rose-colored glasses. They go to church and then wander through their week, not doing anything to help themselves or others. They may see attacks on truth and on God, but trust everything will just go away on its own or won’t really cause any trouble. They tune out the need for good people to work incessantly until the battle is won. When those who know the truth do nothing, Satan wins, and, as this scripture points out, he can win us as well. We can be led carefully away, without even seeing it happen, simply because we aren’t paying attention.

We often focus more on the Do Not commandments than on the Do commandments. As we read the scriptures, we should note that there are things we are not to do, but there are many things the scriptures instruct us to do. When we neglect those, Satan gains an opening into our lives.

We can’t let those who oppose morality and truth do all the talking if we want God to win the battle for souls.

22 And behold, 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.

This particular method seems to be one of Satan’s favorites today. We live in an atmosphere in which self-centeredness is celebrated. We’re told to do whatever we want and expect others to accept and applaud. Whether it involves turning God’s established family patterns upside down, leaving children to explore a world of freedom, or enjoying our favorite sin, many people give no thought to accountability. When we convince people that nothing is really wrong, that God won’t punish them for things the scriptures clearly state are wrong, we let Satan win. After all, if we don’t believe there is punishment for sin, most of us won’t bother to avoid it.

I find this verse’s use of the word flattereth interesting. Satan flatters people by saying there is no sin. I’ve heard atheists state there is no higher power than themselves—a scary thought when applied to anyone but God—and I think this might be what the scripture refers to. When we believe we get to make all the rules for our lives without taking into consideration God, our families, or anyone else, we make ourselves the highest authority. That is flattery, and a powerful tool for Satan to employ.

These verses outlined three methods used by Satan to win his battle against us: getting us furiously angry at righteousness, causing us to ignore the evil around us, and convincing us there is no sin. If we stay alert, we can avoid getting caught up in these traps and stay safe.