Equal & Opposite

We all know that life is full of both the good and the bad, however it sometimes takes us a while to understand why it needs to be so. As a child I would have loved nothing more than to live in a candy palace and to pick dandelions all day, and there are times today when I feel the same. There is a certain fear I have of experiencing pain, and oftentimes that fear manifests in different ways. At other times, I crave the diversity that comes with uncomfortable or negative situations, and I may wish for 'variety' to spice up my life. An silly example comes from my third grade music program. Prior to this program, I had never really been excessively interested in music, however I happened to be sick the day they assigned roles for the program and so I missed out on the comfortable, minor parts. My choir teacher had me and another classmate audition against each other the next day, to determine who got a solo that was left uncast and who had a speaking part. I was given the solo, and I worked hard to memorize that little song. Performance day came and when it was my turn, I went up to the microphone, sang my song, and returned to the risers with the rest of my group. Easy as pie. Afterwards, when my parents were congratulating me, they said: "How do you feel!?" My reply was, "It was so boring. I wasn't nervous." I had felt that my solo experience was cheated because the thrill that comes when you are scared for an event were not there, and my grand performance felt about as intimidating as singing in the shower.

This is not a totally direct example of the principle I want to share today, but I believe that it sets the stage for the following scripture found in Moses 1:8 & Moses 1:20.

8 And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered.

20 And it came to pass that Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell. Nevertheless, calling upon God, he received strength, and he commanded, saying: Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.

What does this passage mean to me? I see in these two verses examples of polar opposite experiences. I cannot think of any scripture that so beautifully captures the black and white of the world like these verses. In the first, Moses sees a vision of the world and all who inhabit it; specifically, he sees a vision of his fellow spirit brothers and sisters who chose to follow the Savior of the world, and who reside on a planet sculpted by the hands of that same Savior. In the second, he sees how far a man can fall via the vision of hell that he experiences in response to Satan's raging.

What principle can be gleaned from this? At the most basic level, it illustrates that the world contains both incredible light and awesome darkness. Everything has its equal and opposite somewhere on the planet, and we cannot expect our lives to be full of sunshine 24/7. However, I really have been touched by another doctrine: that Satan's power is real, however he is no match for our Heavenly Father. I believe that we can sometimes fall into the trap of polarizing our perception of Satan. We either think that he is a bumbling rebellious child who keeps fighting a war he has no way of winning, or we view him as an awesome force that we have no hope but to succumb to. His power is real and he does have a heart filled with hatred, but he cannot compare to the "God of glory."

How do we apply this to our lives? Personally, I think that it is most helpful for me to remember from this verse that when things are tough, I can look forward to beautiful and powerful promptings and manifestations from my Heavenly Father, a God who cares for me personally and is all-powerful; and when I am in a joyful place, I can use this scripture to remind myself to not be blindsided when trials come and I feel the influence of the Adversary.