Why would anyone ever choose to NOT go to the tree??
It’s a beautiful tree!
The fruit looks perfectly white.
Everyone who partakes of it says it is absolutely delicious and fills them with such joy!
So why were large groups of people headed towards the tree, but then walking away?
The mists of darkness.
The temptations of the devil.
“And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.” (1 Nephi 12:17)
Isn’t this just PERFECT imagery for how Satan’s temptations distract us?
These people were suddenly choosing not to walk towards the tree because they literally could not see it anymore!
They couldn’t see how beautiful the fruit was, or how happy the people were who were eating it.
All they could see was a mist of darkness.
When I have mists of darkness in my life, where I know that I am specifically being tempted, I have a hard time believing that the precious fruit (God’s love) is really there for me.
Following the iron rod to the tree seems a little too good to be true.
“All I have to do is to read God’s word and follow it until I feel of His love? Yeah… I don’t have time to read my scriptures tonight. It’s not that important. I’m dealing with some other, bigger things right now.”
We really start to cloud our own judgment.
We aren’t thinking clearly because we honestly can not SEE the happiness at the end of the path.
So how do we escape our mists of darkness?
How do we shake off Satan’s temptations so that we can just SEE what our end goal is?
We hold fast to the iron rod. We don’t let go of the word of God.
We don’t let go of the scriptures and church and Conference talks just because we don’t see the point or feel the love right now.
The mists WILL clear.
We WILL get to the tree.
And it’s the faith to keep holding on, even when we don’t know where God’s love is, that will lead us to the light.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
4 Responses
Also, we can hold on to the word of God by nurturing a deeper relationship with Christ. In the heading of John 1, it says “Christ is the Word of God”. If the iron rod is the word of God, the we need to hold on to Christ. He helps us see through the darkness.
Hold on to Christ- I love that! Thank you for sharing!
Jesus Christ is the Word of God. As we turn to him and hold on to our faith in Him, we will feel of His love. We may not receive answers or a clear path right away, but He is always with us. The scriptures testify of His love for us and His constant care.
Yes to all of this! Thank you for sharing! <3