Evil is NO MATCH for the FAMILY

 

This picture was taken on Halloween 2006. We had this fun plan as a family to each be one of the “Incredibles.” I was really excited about this because we had the perfect number of children to pull this off. My husband was, of course, “Mr. Incredible,” I was “Elastigirl,” my first daughter was “Violet,” our baby was  “Jack-Jack” and Kyle was to be “Dash.” As most of you know, Kyle never did get to wear his Dash costume. I still have it.

Halloween was only about six weeks after Kyle died. I had already purchased all of our costumes before he got sick. I found these fun shirts for my husband and I with the Incredibles on them that said, “Evil is no Match for the Family Dynamic!” I was just so excited about our plans, that was until Kyle would not be a part of it. Thank goodness for oldest daughter, we put them on anyway and I’m glad we did. I remember holding back the tears as we took our girls trick or treating. I was thankful to be wearing a mask for at least one day. It really turned out to be a fun day, I could pretend to be nearly invincible, and practice my sweet ninja skills.

I posted this picture for another reason. There are times when I wish I had the stretchability of Elastigirl so I could do more, be more, and tolerate more. But I’m not. I’m no Supermom. Most of the time I can barely keep up with the demands of my home and family. It has been easy for me to feel discouraged. For some time now I have been pondering a scripture from Revelations 12. This chapter is actually about the apostasy, the war in heaven, and the continuation of the war on earth waged by Satan and his legions. I find it very interesting the imagery that John the Revelator used to describe this war.

In verses 7-9 he describes the War in Heaven using a dragon/serpent to symbolize Satan:

“And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought against his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which decieveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels with him.”

So basically, because Heavenly Father did not accept Satan’s plan, a war ensued between good and evil. In the end, Satan and his legions lost. They were cast out without the opportunity to ever come to earth and gain a body. They were not too happy about that. This means they could not progress further.

John then describes the continuation of this war on earth in verses 13 and 17,

“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. . . And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.”

Now, traditionally the woman in this scripture has been interpreted as being Christ’s church. However, I feel there are different layers of meaning that can be interpreted here. I feel it is very important that John used a woman as this symbol. A mother is a symbol of the center of the home. She typically takes the primary role of nurturing, loving, caring, and making a home, ect. Women have a very pivotal role in the Plan of Salvation. They are the ones that give life to God’s spirit children. They give them bodies which Satan and his followers will never have. Satan seeks to destroy faith in childbearing in particular because it can work against the Plan of Salvation. Satan hates women. This opposition between Satan and womankind was well established in the Fall of Adam and Eve:

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

It was a woman, Eve, that put the Plan of Salvation in motion. If Satan can tear down women and their divine role then he is succeeding in waging this war on earth that he started in heaven. At times, it does feel like there is some kind of enormous evil influence surrounding me, in other words a evil, dreadful “dragon,” laboring to strike at me and my family. This dragon wants me to think I can’t possibly succeed at motherhood, it is just too hard. He is right about something, it is hard, but I have not been left alone to fight him off. Remember that women were promised power over him, “thou shalt bruise his heel.”

John describes the kind of help we have in verses 10 and 11

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death.”

Of course the “dragon” is going to strike hard at those who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.” If you feel attacked that is evidence that you are striving to keep the commandments of God and have a testimony of Jesus. You wield great strength in having “the power of his Christ.” In other words, you recognize that you can overcome him by the blood of the Lamb (repentance and forgiveness through the Atonement) because of your testimony of Christ. Satan and his followers will never be able to partake of this power. They rejected that possibility before coming to this earth and so they will always be warring against those who do have that power available to them.

And there is more to this power that John describes accordingly in verse 14,

“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” 

As I read this verse I asked myself what is this “wilderness, her place, where she is nourished for a time . . . from the face of the serpent?” I think it is the Temple. At least I know that Satan cannot enter God’s Holy House. So then what are the wings that fly her there? I think the wings represent covenants and the keeping of those covenants that protect the family and have the power to preserve it. We can also nourish ourselves by reading the scriptures, serving each other, participating in ordinances like the Sacrament, meditating, praying and fasting, ect.  The home is a refuge.  And so is living the gospel.

So Satan has made war on mothers and their children. Let me offer this scripture to ponder. It is from Genesis and comes directly after the enmity between Satan and women is established,

“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children” Genesis 3:16.

The word sorrow is meant to describe the toil and hard work that motherhood is. It does not necessarily mean that it is sadness (although there are sad moments involved in parenting) but that overall motherhood requires real effort. Because the reward truly is great, it requires the work of faith. God is refining us so that we may say,

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto them also that love his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8.

What beautiful promises await. In the meantime, I am taking it one day, one hour, on second at a time so that I can say I fought a good fight because I am not letting the dragon win. Take that Mr. Dragon, karate chop, Aieeeeee YA! (Notice the sweet ninja skills coming into play here.) As a side note, we do kick the dragon out of our house when he dares invade our family home evenings.  We have a lot of fun unloading some great karate kicks and sound effects when we do this. And you know what?  It works. My son has been known to say in his prayers, “And I love everyone and hug everyone and I kick Satan out.”  So there.

Evil is NO MATCH for the FAMILY!

(***This is not an official declaration of doctrine of the LDS church but my own quirky interpretation.)