PROVO -- Trust in God's guidance and persevere in the face of adversity, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland told students at Brigham Young University Tuesday.
Even after one receives divine personal revelation, he explained, Satan does not quit trying to discourage and deceive that person.Elder Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pointed to the experiences of the Prophet Joseph Smith and of Moses, saying that the adversary continued working against them following their magnificent visions.
"Don't assume that a great revelation, some marvelous illuminating moment, the opening of an inspired path, is the end of it," he said. "Remember, it isn't over until it's over . . . . We cannot sign on for a battle of such eternal significance and everlasting consequence without knowing it will be a fight -- a good fight and a winning fight, but a fight nonetheless."
Opposition, Elder Holland said, frequently comes "after moments of revelation and conviction have given us a peace and assurance we thought we would never lose." Often, spiritual experiences and divinely inspired decisions don't mean the end of trials, but the beginning.
Using the example of choosing a marriage partner, Elder Holland said he has seen many people pray and feel good about the companion they have selected, only to be gripped by fear and doubt, sending them into a state of "marital paralysis."
He said that after a person has been granted illumination, "beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it is right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don't give up when the pressure mounts.
"Certainly don't give in to the being who is bent on the destruction of our happiness. He wants you to be miserable like unto himself. Face your doubts. Master your fears. 'Cast not away therefore your confidence.' Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you."
Revelation, Elder Holland said, is usually thought of as information, because it almost always comes in response to a question. When making important decisions, answers are more likely to come if one desires God's direction "urgently, faithfully, humbly." Satan has little influence on those who remain in that frame of mind, he said.
Fear plays a destructive role in the inability to move forward along the path of righteousness, Elder Holland said. "Of course our faith will be tested as we fight through these self-doubts and second thoughts," he said. "At those times we must resist the temptation to panic and give up. At those times fear will be the strongest of the adversary's weapons against us."
Elder Holland assured students that Satan will always be defeated by God and that He provides the power and the means for his children to accomplish that which is right.
"Fighting through darkness and despair and pleading for the light is what opened this dispensation," he said. "It is what keeps it going, and it is what will keep you going."