Give Place No More for the Enemy of my Soul

While studying about priesthood power, two women from the scriptures came to mind. Their names are not given, but one is a widow woman living in Zarephath and the other is a woman who has suffered greatly because of an issue of blood. The widow woman lived during the prophet Elijah’s time. He had sealed the heavens and they were in the midst of a devastating famine. When the prophet found her, she had run out of food and was preparing her and her son's last meal, Elija begged her to feed him also. She explained she was preparing a last meal for her and her son and didn't have enough. Now earlier, Elijah was told by the Lord to go to this city or village because He had commanded a woman to care for Elijah. She almost refused him, but when he made her a promise, she believed him and was blessed. She was prepared by the Lord and given power to recognize the truth in the prophets words and move forward with Faith. Elijah promised her that her oil and flour would not fail until the famine was over. Those promises were realized and her food stores continued until the famine ended. Her faith saved her family. (1Kings 17:9-16)

Our story doesn’t end there, later, this woman’s son became sick and he died. In her mourning, she cries out. “And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?”  She believed this was punishment for a past sin, and in her mind she was still a sinner, undeserving of God's goodness. The prophet mourned with the woman and lamented that God had brought him to her and then took her son. Then he cried unto the Lord, performed some ancient form of CPR (that is what it sounded like anyway), and raised her son from the dead. (1 Kings 17:16-24)

What struck me most was that after so many blessings, the widow woman experiences great suffering and exclaims it's her fault, she doesn't deserve happiness because she is a sinner. It seemed she was waiting for the Lord's punishment, when He had most likely already forgiven her. I began to be astonished at my resemblance to this widow woman. I wonder how many more of us are like this?  Do we find it hard to seek priesthood power in our lives because we feel undeserving, forgotten, or unworthy?

The next story is about a woman who had suffered with health issues for 12 years. She had seen doctors and no one could help her. One day she learned of a man who could help her, and who happened to be close by. She went to seek Him. He was swarmed by people and was on His way to help someone else. She said to herself, I don't want to bother this man, I just need to reach out and touch Him, maybe just even His clothing and I will be healed. So she touched the hem of his clothing, the lowest part of His garment, where He likely wouldn't even noticed He was touched. Because, again, she was unworthy of His time, didn't want to bother this man, and didn't want to burden Him.

To this woman's mortification (Mark 5:33 and Luke 8:47), she was noticed and brought forth to meet her rescuer. He loved her and told her it was her faith that had wrought the mighty miracle in her life. While He was speaking to her, friends of those He was going to see rushed upon them to let Him know he was no longer needed because the girl He was sent to heal had died. Oh, this poor woman who hadn't wanted to be a burden or a bother now delayed the Lord from saving someone else. I can imagine her guilt and sorrow for having taken His time away from another and now that other was dead. He tells those around Him to fear not; believe only and she will be made whole (Luke 8:50). It will be OK is essentially what He is telling them all, even, maybe especially, the widow woman.

What do these stories have in common? Two faithful sisters who didn't believe they were worthy of The Savior’s time and power.  I love the that they still had power given to them, but I wonder how much more power they could have had if they understood their worth.  How often do we let feelings of unworthiness keep us from enjoying the blessings of priesthood power? President Nelson warned us of the adversary's attempts to keep us from understanding and utilizing priesthood power in our lives.

He said, “Now a little word of warning. There are those who would undermine your ability to call upon the power of God. There are some who would have you doubt yourself and minimize your stellar spiritual capacity as a righteous woman.

Most certainly, the adversary does not want you to understand the covenant you made at baptism or the profound endowment of knowledge and power you have received or will receive in the temple—the house of the Lord. And Satan certainly does not want you to understand that every time you worthily serve and worship in the temple, you leave armed with God’s power and with His angels having “charge over” you.3

One way Satan likes to keep us from understanding and using this power is by feeding our feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness, and our insecurities. Oh, he is crafty and knows how to knock us down and keep us there.

The adversary tells us we are not worthy of the blessings the Lord is waiting to give us. He tells us we are not good enough, not strong enough, just simply not enough. However, the Lord has said we are enough. Our Father sent His Son to suffer, bleed, and die for us that our sins may be forgiven, that we, through His grace, can be made holy and complete, that we can live with God and be like Him. Satan doesn’t want us to understand the power that is ours through our baptismal and temple covenants. He wants us to keep believing we aren’t enough and we don’t deserve the abundance of power God has given us.

The adversary knows that once we start understanding our worth and the power we have, his own power over us and those we love diminishes. That scares him, so he keeps at us, speaking lies that keep us questioning our worth and value. I don’t know about you, but I let him convince me over and over again that I am not enough. That I don’t deserve the abundance of blessings and power God has in store for me. Therefore, it all goes unclaimed. I must say, like Nephi, ". . . Rejoice, oh my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul." I must remember my worth, we must remember our own worth as children of God and combat satan’s lies, so we can claim those blessings and that power that God is waiting to pour upon us. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.