Let me be candid. There is a war going on. So then, who’s the war between? As I have learned throughout my life, I just assumed that the war was God vs. Satan. Though I have come to realize that if that were the case, it would be a very one sided fight. God is all powerful, by the word of his power he cast out Satan and those who followed him out of his presence, never to return (see Isaiah 4:12).  This would be a futile war, one in which Satan cannot win. Satan may be a lot of things; the father of lies, the great adversary, the master of darkness, etc., but there is one thing that he is not, and that is stupid.

Think about that. While you do, let’s look at Man for a moment. Isn’t man-kind so wonderful? Man invents, builds, thinks, communicates… In fact, man has done those things so well; he is now inventing new gadgets to do those things for him so he doesn’t have to anymore! This day and age we have really reached new heights in our sense of satisfaction of our own genius haven’t we? It’s quite sad actually. In reality, man’s understanding is puny. We came here to this earth with an eternal memory hidden. As we discover things: “Oh my gosh, if I hit something with a rock, rather than my hand, not only will it hit with more force, it won’t hurt my hand as much too!” I wonder if God chuckles a bit. Seemingly brilliant discoveries to man, must seem laughable to the Lord.

Satan and his minions on the other hand, were cast out without having their memories erased at all. So if you think about that, he has his spirit followers have their eternal memory still in place, plus, all of the knowledge that man as gained over the past several thousands of years. He is older than us, he is more patient than us, and he is smarter than us. Still not convinced? Have you ever heard the name Lucifer? That is what Satan was called before he became Satan. Lucifer literally means “the Shining One,” also “Lightbringer,” or “Son of the Morning.”

“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,

“And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.

“And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning!

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” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:25-28).

How great the fall of this Son of the Morning, the lightbringer in whom we wept over. His fall was not a fall from knowledge, but a fall from grace. His knowledge retained, and this is whom we call Satan.

This Satan is not stupid. He doesn’t pick fights he cannot win. He hasn’t waged a war against God at all. He has picked a fight against a much less formidable adversary. Man. Why? Well, simply put, he hates us. When he sought to sit himself in the throne of God and take God’s glory, we chose not to follow him. We made our choice, we chose God, and his Christ, and he hates us for that. If there is a bitter soul in the universe, it is Satan, and he seeks to make man miserable like unto himself (see 2 Nephi 2:27).This is his goal. His war is not a war of victory to claim dominion. Like I said, he is no dunce. He knows his fate, he knows perfectly the plan. His war is a war of numbers “If I’m going down, I’m taking ‘enter your name here” down with me.” Oh yes, this is war where he feels he can win. And why not? He’s got the knowledge, he’s got the tools, he got the cunning, patience, subtlety, and he’s got the forces, and he has nothing better to do.

The end is drawing near. If you are playing a game of timed chess, and you are setting your pieces up to strike, being very patient, but times runs out before you can make your move, then what good was your patience? If you take the time to set up, you have to plan it well enough to have enough time to make your final moves. Well, Satan knows this, and he knows that his time is almost out. He has been plotting for centuries for this moment, and he has set his forces up to bring about a great slaughter. The last days are not a time for the faint of heart, Satan and his angels will be out, and with the little time he has left, know that he isn’t going to waste energy.

Yet, there is no need to fear, for God is in control. Satan may be the smartest being on earth, but he is still the creation of the Most High God. “For shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding” (Isaiah 29:16)?

Like Wiley Coyote, Satan has repeatedly tried to nip at the Lord’s anointed, while in so doing merely bruises his own plans to destroy man. For example, Satan thought he was pretty smart to beguile Mother Eve to partake of the fruit, while really; he was only playing into God’s hand the entire time. “But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things” (2 Nephi 2:24).He tried to slay Abraham, he offered Moses the world to worship him, He tempted Christ to save himself, and the list goes on, but in actuality, in all these instances God used them as means to teach and bless his children, and bring about much righteousness. What seemed to Satan as indispensible moments to thwart the salvation of man, turned out to be indispensible learning experiences for man generation to generation.

Aren’t we lucky to have God on our side? Satan will pull no punches in our day. He will invoke the media to attack the Lord’s church. As the Lord’s church becomes more and more into the light, Satan will go to even greater lengths to cover it with darkness. Though, God is in charge, there is no evil that Satan can muster that God cannot use as a positive. Satan is merely performing his role on time and on target, just as God expected him to.

If the war is a chess game of Satan vs. Man, God is surely using Satan’s moves to Man’s advantage.

This is comforting to me. I know that God lives. I know he has my best interest at heart, and Satan cannot take me down as long as I retain in remembrance the person of whom I have trusted. That is Jesus Christ. He has overcome the world. He has trodden the winepress alone. He is mighty to save. He is my advocate with the Father, and the only one in whom I trust.

Man is nothing. Satan is smart. God is omnipotent. If we remember that we need not fear. I so testify that these things are true, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.