It's The Little Things

Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;
Doctrine & Covenants 27:17

Metaphorically, what is the weapon of choice of the Adversary? A battle axe? A ball and chain? Perhaps a pitch fork? No, the scriptures talk about his “fiery darts”.  Why?  What is the lesson behind Satan trying to get us with a puny dart?  Because in the spiritual warfare we fight in this life, Satan will try to destroy us with the little things first.

            No, you are too spiritually strong for him to come at you with something big like a battle axe, so he will try something small like a dart.  No, Satan’s temptations to “rob a bank” are probably not going to work on you, but how about to cheat a little bit in school or not be completely honest with your time at work?  No, a temptation to suddenly hire a prostitute is not likely to work, but what about to look at inappropriate images or a book that entertains lust?  No, the Devil probably can’t get you to kill another person, but what about something small like fighting with someone in your family, or refusing to forgive?

            In hand to hand combat like in ancient times, with the adrenaline flowing, perhaps one could get hit with a small dart and not even worry about it.  It’s something so small.  But the darts were often poisoned.  What looked fairly harmless would cause them to get a little dizzy and then suddenly they could be hurt by something much bigger.  It’s the same with us. Satan will start in his attempts to kill you spiritually with things that seem so small.

Todays’ Takeaway: What are the “little things” in your life that you could think “I can handle it” or “It’s no big deal”?  In what small ways is Satan trying to get you to compromise?  Identify one or two areas in your life where you might be compromising in small ways.  Now STOP IT! Those small things will kill you spiritually and will start you down the road to misery, sorrow and regret. Repent and beware of the “little things”.