Glimpses

The other night while walking through Wal-mart to pick up a few things I walked through electronics where they had "Guardian's" playing. I had seen the previews months ago and written it off as one of those movies promoting childhood fantasies. That was that. But when I walked through electronics I was drawn in. I came in on the last bit, so I may be ad libbing.

A young man finds his mind being opened to a past life. He sees a young girl standing on the ice in danger and he is wanting to save her. In doing so he gives his life and in turn is made a guardian. He then realizes he has a purpose. He and the other guardians are losing their powers and abilities. You see a mad man who is trying to diminish the belief of all the children in the world. As this man takes the belief of the children it strengthens his powers and destroys the powers of the guardians.

Towards the end there is one child who still believes but is about to give up. He asks for proof that his beliefs aren't in vain. When his light is about to flicker the first boy, Jack, tries to use the last of his power to help this boy believe. The boy now is convinced and also sees Jack. Jack and he gather other children with the help of the other guardians for an ultimate show down with the mad man. At one point the young boy realizes it isn't up to the guardians but rather to him and the other children to fight the mad man. The young boy yells: "I know you are real, but you don't scare me." At that point the mad man begins to loose power, and eventually he is destroyed.

I didn't watch the end because I realized I had been there for more than 5 minutes (or thirty for that matter), so I went about my shopping and headed home. However the scenes have been running through my mind. I thought how easily this applies to our actual life.

We have a loving Father with an eternal plan, and a brother who willingly gave his life to put that plan into effect. Why? Because they both love us and want us to return. They want us to be happy. We have another brother who is doing everything in his power to destroy us and that plan. As long as he can paint an ugly picture and put fear in our hearts it gives him power. He tries to tell us he isn't real and neither are our Father and other Brother. He tries to diminish any hope we may feel for the future.

As long as we believe his lies it gives him power to make us miserable, to destroy us, and pull us down. However if we believe in the Savior and His sacrifice, if we believe we have a loving Father in Heaven we can find happiness, we can find peace. The fear will fade because while we know evil is there we realize that our Father is all knowing. He has provided a way for us to succeed. He has thought out every detail. By Believing this we are able to partake in the blessings of His Son, Christ. We can feel forgiveness. He will give us strength. Those stories in the scriptures that seem like "fairy tales, or myths" become stories of hope and can strengthen us. We can learn through them to "believe in, but not fear" the adversary, for we will realize he really doesn't have the power he tries to convince us he has.

There are stories in the scriptures that have been brought to mind throughout the week since this. I feel I am being taught. Like for instance in 2 Kings, 6: Elias's servant goes out to fetch some water and realizes they are surrounded by a huge army, and is terrified by what he sees. He goes to Elias with this fear and the prophet prays to the Lord that the servants eyes would be opened. They were and when the servant looked about he found that behind the army was a mountain full of horses and chariots of fire ready for the Lords command. Elias prayed that the offending army would be blinded and he and his servant walked out unscathed.

Mosiah, in the Book of Mormon, prayed that as his sons went out to teach among the Lamanite's they would be protected from harm. According to his faith the blessing was fulfilled. One son's life was spared as he lay in a vision. His brothers, though not as lucky in the group of Lamanite's they went among, their lives too were spared.

There is also the story of the 2,000 stripling warriors. Their lives were spared countless times because of the faith they had and that of their mothers.

Daniel and the lions den, Ester, David and Goliath, Job, the city of Enoch,....there are so many examples of how the Lord blessed those who had faith in him. They were not always exempt of trials and tribulation, but all were blessed for their faithfulness. I believe this is why it is important for us to not just study the scriptures, but apply them. Allowing the Lord to teach us so we can, when tried, prove to be faithful to the end. So we can lift those around us and be lifted when we feel we are slipping. So He can remind us what it is we believe in.