As the lights start to come on and the rest of the theatre goers begin to leave, I continue sitting there; deep in thought and feeling more than a little overwhelmed. It was not the Chinese food before the movie or the popcorn during Mockingjay that has rooted me to my seat. I feel this deep sense of sadness - war is so ugly and horrible. An hour of my day previous was spent listening to the book Unbroken. It is an inspiring and amazing story. I highly recommend it. However, it is also a war story. What makes war stories so wonderful and so horrible at the same time? Why do we fight? My mother looks over at me questioning why I am still sitting there with my hands covering my mouth in a state of shock. When I express my thoughts she blows them out of the water. "We are at war every day with Satan and he takes many of our good ones with him."
Every first Sunday of the month in our church during the Sacrament meeting (first hour of church) there is time for members of the congregation to share their testimonies. No one is assigned and only every once in a while someone is asked to get up and share. It is mostly volunteer, so sometimes it is quiet when no one gets up. I have been trying to improve my testimony and have found that the more I share it the bigger it grows. This last Sunday I bore my testimony at my local church about another book; My Story by Elizabeth Smart. I really wanted to read it, but I was nervous to at the same time. In the end my desire to know how she has gone on to have a normal life, won out. She went through a horrible experience of being kidnapped and abused for over a year. (spoiler alert) One of the things that surprised me when I read her story is that she had a couple opportunities to get away from her captor, but did not. The main reason she never left were the lies he told her and the fear they had instilled in her. He would lie about hurting her family and she loved them too much to do anything that may hurt them. She stayed with this horrible man because she believed his lies.
The best part of the book is the ending. That is where I got my answer of how she has moved on. Her mom took her aside after she returned home. She told Elizabeth to not give him one more second of her life. Not to give him anymore power to do her harm. What he did was horrible, but from now on Elizabeth would choose whether that man would continue to injure her. Her mother told her to be happy and enjoy life because that is what she deserved and that would be the greatest revenge. That mother was truly inspired by our Heavenly Father in that advise.
So what does this war with Satan and Elizabeth Smart's book have in common. Just picture our loving Heavenly Father looking down on us and seeing us in our battle with Satan. Maybe Satan is telling you that you are not good enough, that you don't need God, that you don't have enough stuff, that no one loves you, that life is too hard, that you don't need to go to church, etc. Satan has so many lies that he whispers to each and every one of us. It is a war after all, a war for our souls. Heavenly Father's advise is the same as Elizabeth Smart's mothers advice....don't you give him another second. Don't believe his lies, don't live in fear...embrace the joy and the peace I want to offer you. We do not have to believe Satan's lies and we do not have to live a life of misery. We have that choice, the choice of who's voice we are going to listen to. So stand up to those negative fear filled thoughts that Satan is forcing into you, embrace your loving Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ in prayer and receive the gifts being offered. PEACE, JOY, LOVE
Don't give Satan another second of your life. He doesn't deserve it.
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