“And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost. And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.” (1 Nephi 8:23-24). Mists can appear to be solid. By robbing us of our vision of what's to come they can be more than a little daunting. And while we may fear to press forward into the mist, and continue fearful not to mention lost and disoriented should we take the plunge, nevertheless, we can walk through the mists with relative ease. If we have something solid to hold onto and direct our path we can even make progress nearly as quickly as we would if there were no mist at all. Mists of darkness are the power that Satan has. It is by no means insignificant. The temptations of the adversary are real and they are present and they are right up in our face and they obscure our vision and our purpose and make it almost impossible to tell where we are or where we are going. They can surround us on every side and they can make it feel like we have nowhere to go. But at the end of the day, they're just mist. We can walk through them easier than we could a cobweb. There might be more mist on the other side of that first step but we can walk through that patch of mist as well. Sometimes when we are confronting a temptation, our eventual succumbing feels all but inevitable. Like a wall of mist it seems like there is no way we can move past the temptation and so we might as well give in. But it is only an illusion. If we press forward one step after another, we will find that we can walk through the walls of mist with almost no resistance. Every breath we take where we resist the urge to indulge in an addiction or scream at a family member or blow off those ordinary but vital good habits, we press forward one more step through the mist. Sometimes it feels as if our efforts to remain faithful to our covenants are in vain. We resist the temptation one minute, but it is back the next minute. We have not failed. The mist has not resisted our passage through it. The fact of the matter is that sometimes behind the mist is more mist. Sometimes when we say no to Satan he is back again the next second asking us if we're sure we don't want to just give in a little. But we do have the power to say no, sixty times a minute if necessary, and every time we say no and press forward, the mist has to let us through. Don't get me wrong, it can be absolutely demoralizing when hour after hour and day after day we press forward continually, holding fast to that iron rod, and yet no matter how many steps we take, the mist is still there, still scary and blinding and still trying to trick us into believing that it will never end. But we will find clear patches as we continue to press forward. The Lord will allow us to catch glimpses of the Tree of Life and of the full glory and splendor of His matchless love. We will reach the end of the mist someday if we keep pressing forward, keep proving to ourselves that the mist is a fleeting and insubstantial thing, powerless to hold us back if we will but put one foot in front of the other. I know that temptations seem strong and powerful but seem is all they can do. There is no substance in them. They must give way to all who will press forward in faith, with a perfect brightness of hope. I know that it is possible to press forward despite our doubts and fears and insecurities. It is not always easy or pleasant to walk in darkness through the mist. We will stumble and fall. We will get lost and slump down in defeat and refuse to go on for a time. But then we will press forward once more and prove to ourselves, to God and to the devil himself that his mist may frighten us but it has no power to stop us.
