Rage in the Hearts

In 2 Nephi 28:20-22 we read of three ways that the devil will seek to deceive or overcome us in the last days.  The first is by stirring us up to anger: “At that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.”  We don’t have to look far to see this in our world today, from terrorists killing innocent lives to groups that rail against those who simply believe in the traditional family.  The second way the devil works on us according to these verses is in the exact opposite manner: by lulling us “away into carnal security, that [we] will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well – and thus the devil cheateth [our] souls, and leadeth [us] away carefully down to hell.”  That type of deception seems most applicable to those believers who claim to be a part of Zion.  It can be all too easy to rationalize behaviors and determine that we are doing just fine since we are at least a little better behaved than the world.  The third way is by convincing us there is no devil at all: “And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.”  This seems to be what the devil did with Korihor, who explained after receiving his witness from Alma of the power of God: “Behold, the devil hath deceived me; for he appeared unto me in the form of an angel, and said unto me: Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray after an unknown God. And he said unto me: There is no God; yea, and he taught me that which I should say. And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind” (Alma 30:53).  If there is no devil and no God, than anything goes and we can do whatever is “pleasing,” which is exactly what Korihor taught the Nephites as he convinced many of them to participate in his wickedness. 

                As I’ve read these three verses in the past I think I’ve tried to categorize who they apply to, with the mapping something like this: the really wicked and violent are worked on in the first way (rage); the Saints are worked on in the second way (pacify); and those who don’t even believe in God or moral values have been deceived in the third way.  But I’m realizing now that verse 20 is far more applicable to my life than I would want to admit, and is unfortunately a challenge that most of us face to some degree or another.  Perhaps the most prominent way we struggle with anger is in the treatment of our own families as we work through difficulties and stress.  And unfortunately it is often the children that receive the worst of our tempers.  Mormon taught that “all little children are alive in Christ” and that they “need no repentance,” and so surely if anything fits the description “that which is good,” it is little children (Moroni 8:11, 22).  In all the challenges of raising little children, especially those to whom obedience does not come naturally, all too often it is towards the children that the devil causes—almost unknowingly—our hearts to rage.  Children of course need discipline and correction from their parents, but they don’t need anger from their parents.  But the pressures of family life and the energy and sometimes obstinacy and even a little rage in the little children themselves can cause us as parents to forget one of the most important things about raising little ones: they can’t sin, but we sure can.  Our only hope then is to plead for help from the Savior in overcoming these temptations and the “rage” of the adversary: “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work” (D&C 10:5).