Survivor

To say that I enjoy watching Survivor (the reality show) would be a modest way to put it....when in reality I LOVE SURVIVOR...in fact I'm waiting for the day when my kids are grown and I can try out for my chance to outwit and outlast someone.

----------------------------------------------------

I have had a couple close friends of mine lately share with me the personal struggles they are having in their lives. Their situations have been weighing heavily on my mind the past couple of days and today it dawned on me....we are all living a version of Survivor.

(Yes it could be referred to outwitting and outlasting my children but no...that's not where I'm going today....I've already outwitted, outlasted and won that battle :)

I'm talking about the everyday challenges we face when contending with The Adversary.

(outwit)
He is smart - He would have to be...he alone was allowed to offer ideas regarding the well-being of all mankind, ultimately leading to a war in heaven. He had to be educated and very convincing because he enticed a 1/3 of the host of heaven to remain with him and be angels of darkness forever (sounds pretty miserable to me....but he somehow turned many hearts of the children away from their father.)

(outlast)
He is continuous - He will never stop trying to make our lives as miserable as he feels. (Misery loves company) He knows our weaknesses, our flaws, our challenges and our sensitivities and he'll find ways to ignite them causing them to burn away at our conscience and then at our weakest point, instead of letting up and claiming defeat he will stoke the fire, a little here, a little there until it ultimately consumes us.  

-----------------------------------------------

So how do we outwit an intelligent enduring devil?? We follow Christs plan, a plan that Satan never understood and never will....often referred to as The Plan of Happiness -  in order to know the plan of happiness you have to GAIN KNOWLEDGE by simply going to church, reading the scriptures, studying instruction from the leaders of the church found in the ensign and other modern publications. Then while searching to discover who you are, you will come to realize and find joy in the simple truth that you are indeed a child of a living and true God who will forever be on your side.

How do we Outlast him?? We turn our burdens over to the lord and he will lighten our load and ease our pain. We wont outlast him if we are trying to tolerate life's torments alone. Satan has his angels on his side but we have angles from heaven ready to heed our call. Joseph Smith once said (and I'm paraphrasing) "You are in a situation in which you must make a decision -- but if you chose to live up to God's principles, how great will be your privilege, for angels cannot be restrained from being with you." (simple enough I think)

DON'T EVER STOP -- because Satan never will.

Then if we work hard, stay true and do what we can...at the end of these season (aka life)

we will be crowned the winner and earn that title of ultimate survivor!