4 And it came to pass that after this tenth year had passed away, …the king of the Lamanites sent an epistle unto me, which gave unto me to know that they were preparing to come again to battle against us. [MORMON 3:4]
Dear Enemy
While I don’t enjoy all the killing and destruction in the verses about the Lamanites vs. the Nephites, I have to smile at the silliness, but sincerity of the Lamanites telling their “sworn enemies” that they are preparing for battle against them. I think it’s so “nice” when the enemy sends a special message that they are preparing for battle. Did they want to be sure it was an even fight? Would you tell your enemy, “Hey, just wanted to let you know that we would really like to defeat and destroy you, and so we’re giving you a heads up that you better get ready because we’re coming to attack you and we want to give you a better chance to win.”?
Wicked Warfare
Wouldn’t it be nice if the devil gave us a heads up like this? Wouldn’t it be great if the one who wants to destroy our lives and souls gave us a heads up that he was about to send in some serious distractions, detours, frustrations, and temptations in our lives? Would we be better able to defend against and defeat him if he sent us an epistle saying, “Hey, I know you’ve got some important, special and spiritual things going on today, or coming up and I wanted to let you know that I’m planning on trying to ruin your day and thought it would be a nice gesture to give you some time to make sure you’re ready to defend against me. Alright, see you then.”
Unfair Warfare Warnings
That’s not how the devil operates. The element of surprise and disguise are his greatest assets in deceiving and destroying us. How grateful we are that we don’t need the devil to give us a warning that he’s coming because we have the Spirit of Christ to warn us and to prepare us against his attacks! Which, is why the devil’s every intention is to invest in every invention to distract and detour us away from anything that will help us to acquire and improve the Spirit of Christ in our lives. And because the devil knows that God knows his plans (all of them) he has to keep us from realizing this truth and from hearing the Spirit’s warning voice and acquiring the wisdom of how to prepare against his attacks through prayer, scripture study, personal revelation and from the words of the prophets and apostles.
P.S.
This is why we need to do all we can to acquire the guiding, guarding fire of the Spirit of the Lord to be with us always and in all aways. Because the devil seeks to destroy us every single day. And he’s not going to warn us, or idly sit back while we fortify our minds, hearts, homes and lives against his attacks. And if the devil is hell-bent on deceiving and destroying each of us daily, then you can be certain that our Lord and Savior is Heaven-sent to help us receive and reinforce all that He has to help us overcome our enemies, no matter how, where or when they strike.