Putting on the Armor of God

As you just heard in my introduction, I have worked at BYU-Idaho a little over 21 years in a variety of positions and have had many wonderful experiences. All of the different positions that I have had while working here have had a common goal and that goal is a safe experience for all who are a part of this campus, whether they are students, employees, or visitors. In fact, safety principles have changed—some may even say skewed—the way that I think about most things in my life. Let me share a quick example.

Shortly after I had started working in the safety office, Janine and I were attending a concert in the Hart building and I was truly enjoying the experience, but during a break in the performance, my mind started to wander a little about what would happen if we needed to evacuate this performance. So after looking around to find the nearest exit—which is often not the same one you came, in by the way—I turned to Janine and proceeded to explain to her that: “If we have to evacuate, we will use that exit door right over there, and if someone becomes unresponsive, I want you to go down these stairs right here and call 911 and grab the AED that is right above the phone.”

I hadn’t even had a chance to tell her about my whole plan when she looked back at me with a confused look on her face and asked, “What are you talking about!?” I quickly realized that having a plan is a good idea, but immediately sharing it with someone—especially in the middle of a concert—may not be the best idea. So we went back to enjoying the rest of the concert and sure enough, we didn’t even have to use my quickly conceived emergency plan. (Hopefully all of you listened to the announcement just before devotional started today and found your nearest exit.) I often think about that experience and wonder why it seemed so important to me in that moment to have an emergency plan and I have decided that, if not necessarily a normal thing to think about, having an emergency plan is always a good idea, no matter what situation I find myself in. 

One of the principles that I have learned in my professional life is that people tend to make poor decisions in high stress emergency situations. Conversely however, if people have thought through their actions and created a plan—and even better, practiced that plan many times before the emergency—then the decisions have already been made, good habits have been created, and the response is typically much quicker and more effective. Last week, Sister Jolene Mickelsen said in her devotional entitled “Believe In Yourself” after having just shared a difficult task that she had accomplished, “Something to think about: how many of us have made “good” choices and while repeating it over and over they turned into something easy to do? And just the opposite, how many of us have made “bad” choices, while repeating it over and over it has turned into something easy to do? We must be aware of the choices we make and how those choices can be a positive or a negative influence in our lives.”

I often think about this principle whenever I teach a CPR or first aid certification course. Every certification course that we teach here on campus takes about three to four hours—depending on the course—to complete. Some of that time is spent receiving instruction on CPR and first aid techniques through a video-based instruction course, but the majority of the time is spent physically practicing those techniques on the CPR mannequins.  The participants spend most of the course kneeling on the ground practicing over and over again the principles that were taught in the classroom portion of the class. Then, after the techniques have been practiced enough, the student finishes the course by passing a hands-on skills test at which point they are considered “certified” as a CPR or first aid provider. I have determined that one of the planned goals of a CPR course is to have the participants physically practice the CPR techniques enough so that if—or when—they find themselves in a situation where CPR is needed, fear does not take over but the muscle memories developed during that training class—where the techniques were practiced over and over again—can kick in. That way the responder doesn’t have to “decide” what to do; they are simply able to jump into action.  

The same can be said for all of us in our personal lives. All of us will face spiritual emergencies at different times in our lives. You probably all remember at least one time in your lives when a Sunday school teacher, or a youth leader, or a parent taught you that if you have already decided that you will not indulge in any harmful things like alcohol or pornography before you go to a party, then you will be much less likely to make—in what can be a very high stress situation—a poor decision at the party when something is offered to you. Because you had already made the decision that you would not participate in that negative activity, it is much easier to rely on your mental muscle memory and decline the offer of the harmful substance. That is a great example of a specific time this principle can be used in our lives, but I feel this idea can be used daily as we are faced with decisions every day that will affect us the rest of our lives. We all must have an emergency plan developed, and practiced that we can use in the war that we are fighting against Satan and his forces every single day.

Towards the end of Nephi’s ministry, he shared some final thoughts with his people that I think are so valuable. First, he said, “Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.”[1] He didn’t just suggest reading occasionally about the teachings of Christ; he told them—and us—to “feast” on his words. Just like in the CPR class, a feast involves two things: both learning new principles—coming to the dinner table as often as we need—and then having a significant hands-on experience—actually consuming or feasting on the food. Then, in the next chapter, Nephi explains, “But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the straight path which leads to life and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation.”[2] Nephi recognizes the importance of preparation before we enter through the narrow gate and that proper preparation will help us throughout our path in life all the way through the end of our journey.

Have you ever wondered why the scriptures often talk about entering through a gate? Why is the gate even there? Another opportunity that I have had over the course of my employment at BYU-Idaho is the chance to enter a lot of construction sites. One of the first things that happens on almost every construction site is that a barrier is put up around the project—a fence or a dust wall—that keeps the general public separated from the dangers that are found inside the construction area. With each barrier comes, of course, some sort of gate or doorway where the craftsmen can enter and exit the project. Then, shortly after the barrier is completed, a sign that usually looks something like this is hung right next to the gate or doorway.

This sign establishes the requirement that no one should enter the construction site unless they have donned the proper personal protective equipment, or PPE, such as hard hats, safety glasses, brightly colored vests, and closed toed shoes. Before I understood the importance of PPE devices, I would be frustrated by these requirements and felt like the purpose was to simply keep me out so that I could not see what was going on inside of the construction site. I have since come to understand that the PPE requirement Is not meant to act as a way to keep me out, but more as a way to help and protect those who have entered through the gate.

The Book of Mormon prophet Lehi gives a wonderful example of how this principle works in his account of his dream that he had shortly after his family left Jerusalem. In his dream, after he and most of his family had partaken of the fruit, they turned and saw many other people start on the same path that he and his family had just traveled to get to the fruit. When he looked a little closer, he saw that there was an iron rod that ran the length of the path and that as people started their journey, if they grabbed on and “clung” to the iron rod, they would not get lost in the mists of darkness that had gathered around them. He also noticed that some people would grab on to the rod at the beginning of their journey but would let go of the rod at some point in their progression, which contributed to their getting lost and not making it to the Tree of Life.[3] The rod, a spiritual form of PPE, was always available and those who chose to “cling” to it, or to always use that PPE device, were protected and were able to reach the end of their journey.

Over the years I have seen some injuries that have occurred because someone was not wearing the proper PPE, but more often I have seen injuries that have been avoided because the proper PPE was used. When I first started on campus, I worked in the chemistry department as the Chemistry Stockroom Supervisor. The majority of my responsibilities involved the preparation, set up, and take down of all of the labs that were run in the chemistry department. A large part of that process was preparing the chemicals that were used in the labs as well as setting up the necessary equipment. Most of the chemicals we used were relatively harmless, but there were enough hazardous chemicals that one of the rules of the stockroom was that all who entered the stockroom through the “gate” must have the proper PPE, including closed toed shoes.

I was not able to complete all that this job required of me by myself, so I hired many students to help me get the job done correctly. One student that worked for me did not like the policy of having to wear closed toed shoes and it seemed like it was a constant battle to get them to come to work wearing the proper PPE. I finally convinced them to bring a pair of appropriate “work” shoes to the stockroom and store them in a specific drawer so that they could come wearing whatever shoes they liked, change into their work shoes for their shift, and then switch back to the preferred shoe of the day at the end of their shift. This system worked very well and we all felt confident we would be safe in fulfilling the required tasks. One day right at the end of the last semester this student worked for me (if I remember correctly), I was working on something separately from my student employees and I heard from behind me, “Brother Gilbert, look!” I nervously turned around to see this. This student employee, who had changed into their proper shoes at the beginning of their shift, according to the policy that we had developed, had spilled a drop of glycerin onto their shoe. Had they not put on the right PPE, the drop would have landed right on their toe. Thankfully, glycerin is not a very hazardous chemical, but we all were able to have a good laugh about the experience because even if the drop had been more hazardous, the toe would have been protected.

In the scriptures, I feel that donning spiritual PPE is often referred to as putting on the “whole armor of God.”  In Doctrine and Covenants, we read:

These verses do not ask us to only put on those pieces of armor that we feel we might need any particular day; we are asked to put on the “whole” armor of God every single day. As I have thought about what it means to put on the whole armor of God, I have come to realize that all the individual parts of the armor described are themselves made up of different materials that are forged or linked together to form each of the armor pieces. There is a show that I have occasionally watched on TV called “Forged in Fire.” One of the things that fascinates me about the show is the ability of the participants to take smaller, seemingly unrelated materials and forge some sort of usable product out of them. We make decisions every day that will help us forge and strengthen the spiritual armor that we are putting on. For example, making choices such as paying tithing, living the Word of Wisdom, and being morally clean can all strengthen our breastplate of righteousness. Attending our classes and meetings, feasting on the word of God, and striving to be the best example we can to all around us will allow our feet to be shod with the preparation of the gospel. Bearing our testimony, praying daily, and trusting our parents and leaders helps us strengthen our shield of faith, which will also strengthen our sword of His Spirit. Every individual decision that we make each day can add to and strengthen our spiritual armor.

On the devotional discussion board, I asked you to describe a time in your life when you have personally felt the Lord’s protection after having put on the whole armor of God. Thank you so much to those who responded. I found it very interesting that a common theme was that having on the whole armor of God was not a protection from experiencing any pain but wearing God’s armor can protect you from fatal harm. It reminded me of Helaman’s warriors found in the Book of Mormon. At some point in their battles, all of them were physically wounded, but none of them lost their lives and, more importantly, were able to remain spiritually protected. Some might still lose their physical lives even when wearing the whole armor of God, but don’t forget that the Lord’s plan is eternal and His armor will continue to be a protection in the life to come. Thank you for reminding me that we did not come to this life to avoid experiencing any pain, but to grow and learn from the pain so that ultimately we can don our helmet of salvation. 

Now, as I near the end of my devotional talk, I would like to share one more lesson I have learned through my years working as a safety professional. A little background: the Prophet Joseph Smith shared a very valuable lesson with the early Saints as a part of a revelation he received “. . . at Fayette, New York on January 2, 1831. The occasion was a conference of the Church”[5] and after having just predicted some future wars, he said this phrase that you all have heard probably many times in your lives. He said, “. . . but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.”[6] So, what does that mean “if ye are prepared ye shall not fear?” We have talked about developing and practicing spiritual emergency plans in our own lives and making sure we have the right spiritual PPE to protect us in our daily battles. Are there specific plans that we can enact in our lives that will help us be better prepared? Are there pieces of spiritual armor that we have chosen not to put on each and every day?

You are probably all aware that most of the buildings on campus have both fire alarm systems and fire sprinkler systems in them that are meant to warn the occupants of the buildings of impending fire dangers and to assist in the extinguishment of any fire that might occur in the buildings. Both systems are designed to protect the occupants of the buildings on their way out if there is a fire in the building. I am not sure how many of you may be aware that we are required by federal code to test every fire alarm device and to exercise every fire sprinkler device on a regular basis. In order to accomplish this, during every summer break, the Campus Fire Safety Coordinator and his student employees trigger every smoke detector, sound every fire alarm, turn every fire sprinkler valve, and flow water from every fire sprinkler system in every building throughout campus. It is a monumental task to say the least! But the benefit of doing it is that we are able to find any weaknesses in the systems before the emergency and get them fixed so that we can confidently know that they will work correctly during an emergency. 

One summer right in the midst of this testing period, I was talking with a co-worker that works in a different office than mine, and he told me that he had used what I and my current team were doing as an example in one of his staff meetings. Curious, I asked how what I was doing applied to anything that he was working on with his team, and he explained that he told his team that he wanted the same peace of mind of knowing that before the emergency, the systems they were using would work effectively during the emergency because they had already tested them and knew they worked correctly.

Brothers and sisters, I ask all of you: have you, first of all, developed your own spiritual plan? And then, if you have, what are you doing to test your plan regularly in non-emergency times so that you can confidently move forward and not fear the impending, spiritual emergencies that you will all face? Do you polish and don every piece of your spiritual “armor of God” every single day? I promise you that there is peace of mind to be found, even this very day, if you do these things on a daily basis. I have felt this protection in my life and continue to seek it for future, spiritual emergencies that will inevitably continue to come up throughout my life, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

[1] ^{2 Nephi 32:3.}

[2] ^{2 Nephi 33:9.}

[3] ^{See 1 Nephi 8.}

[4] ^{Doctrine and Covenants 27:15–18.}

[5] ^{Doctrine and Covenants 38 Heading.}

[6] ^{Doctrine and Covenants 38:30.}