"And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?
Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul."
2 Nephi 4:27-28
I can relate to Nephi here, feeling frustrated with his weaknesses. I think we probably all get frustrated at times at our inability to be perfect. :) Normally I'm guessing that when we feel that way it is a sign that Satan is trying to get us down rather than a sign that we are bad people or anything. I mean, Nephi was amazing, and he felt that way, so maybe there is hope for us all. :)
There are some good points here as well. When we give way to temptation, we are allowing Satan to destroy our peace and afflict our souls. We're basically just inviting him in. Here, it seems like Nephi was trying to turn his anger into rejoicing. Not an easy task, but I think that is exactly why this chapter turns into a prayer... because he turned to the Lord for help. And that is exactly what we can do in similar situations. We can talk it out or write it out as Nephi did, and at first maybe it isn't a prayer because we're not there yet, so we're just venting... but if we keep working towards that prayer, and direct our communications to God, we'll get there, and God will be able to help us turn all of that frustration into something better. :)
Today, let's not give space for the evil one in our hearts. If we're failing or we feel like we are spinning out of control, let's ground ourselves the way Nephi did... by getting it out, and turning it into a prayer for help.
Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul."
2 Nephi 4:27-28
I can relate to Nephi here, feeling frustrated with his weaknesses. I think we probably all get frustrated at times at our inability to be perfect. :) Normally I'm guessing that when we feel that way it is a sign that Satan is trying to get us down rather than a sign that we are bad people or anything. I mean, Nephi was amazing, and he felt that way, so maybe there is hope for us all. :)
There are some good points here as well. When we give way to temptation, we are allowing Satan to destroy our peace and afflict our souls. We're basically just inviting him in. Here, it seems like Nephi was trying to turn his anger into rejoicing. Not an easy task, but I think that is exactly why this chapter turns into a prayer... because he turned to the Lord for help. And that is exactly what we can do in similar situations. We can talk it out or write it out as Nephi did, and at first maybe it isn't a prayer because we're not there yet, so we're just venting... but if we keep working towards that prayer, and direct our communications to God, we'll get there, and God will be able to help us turn all of that frustration into something better. :)
Today, let's not give space for the evil one in our hearts. If we're failing or we feel like we are spinning out of control, let's ground ourselves the way Nephi did... by getting it out, and turning it into a prayer for help.
No comments:
Post a Comment