JST Revelation 12:
4 And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was delivered, ready to devour her child after it was born.
5 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore years.
6 And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought against Michael;
7 And the dragon prevailed not against Michael, neither the child, nor the woman which was the church of God, who had been delivered of her pains, and brought forth the kingdom of our God and his Christ.
8 Neither was there place found in heaven for the great dragon, who was cast out; that old serpent called the devil, and also called Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth; and his angels were cast out with him.
D&C 76:
25 And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of
God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only
Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was
thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,
26 And was called
Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.
27 And we beheld, and
lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning!
28 And while we were
yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for
we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God,
and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ—
29 Wherefore, he
maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about.
Each of us has our dragon to fight. A verse that has always given me great comfort has been 1 Corinthians 10:13:
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
I typically focus on the second part. It gives such great comfort and reassurance. There is no dragon that I or you will be asked to face that we cannot defeat it, through the Grace of Christ. This statement gives such hope and confidence and determination to do what is right, knowing that I can succeed, that no situation is hopeless.
Today, however, I was struck by the first half of the verse. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. There is no dragon I am asked to fight that has not been slain countless times by countless saints throughout the ages, and, almost certainly, by my own friends and family. I cannot rely on Saint George to slay my dragons for me, but I can ask him what he did. What tactics he employed. Ask him to encourage and cheer me as I assail my own, real dragon. All of us have one or more Saint Georges in our lives, whether we know it or not. There are people all around who are willing and happy to help us in our fights. In fact, members of the church have covenanted to assist in just this way.
Mosiah 18:
8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here
are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are
desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are
willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are
willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in
need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all
things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed
of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have
eternal life—
Isaiah 35:
3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble
knees.
4 Say to them that
are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with
vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.
Hebrews 12:
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the
feeble knees;
D&C 81:
5 Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have
appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and
strengthen the feeble knees.
Before your feeble knees give way and the dragon claim you his, please accept the loving assistance of your friends and family. If you have lost a round, a battle, do not give up. None of us get everything right the first time. We all have need of the Savior. Desperate need.
1 John 1:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The Lord is faithful. He will forgive the humble seeker of truth and lift us to a more joyous life.
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