Opposition in all things

During this past week of my class Jesus Christ and The Everlasting Gospel we discussed several principles and doctrines, but one that really stuck out to me is illustrated in the passage Moses 1:1-22. These verses tell of Moses's beautiful experience with God while he was on a high mountain and of the following encounter he had with Satan. Upon discussing this, our professor pointed out that Moses had had a "spiritual plateau" as he referred to it. He had felt an abundance of the spirit as he viewed God's creations and the grandness of the universe. When he returned from this he was confronted by Satan with an extremely evil and opposite power. Our professor said that Brigham Young taught, "Whenever God gives you a very high, holy, or sacred experience either right before or right after he is going to allow the devil to tempt you or he himself will give you a trial equal and opposite in proportion to what you just experienced." Moses's experience and this quote instantly reminded me of several of my own personal struggles and spiritual highs that I had gone through recently. In recognition of those experiences, I was humbled, and it caused me to realize that I need to prepare myself now for those struggles ahead. Moses, though he felt fear and a struggle to oppose Satan, did not falter because he had prepared himself spiritually and followed the will and counsel of Heavenly Father. Our professor told us, "Don't beat yourself up when you struggle after you've had amazing spiritual experiences... let you grow through them instead of go through them." Just as Moses all of those who do experience a very spiritual high will at some point face the opposite amount of struggle or trial. We must all do what we can to prepare ourselves against those times. We must make decisions now to follow our Heavenly Father, to endure and press forward, and to allow hard times to help us grow and progress. I am grateful for both trials and spiritual experiences. I know that they are the means to growth in this glorious gospel. How we face both types of experiences will determine which way we go and who we will follow.