Traps and Snares

When a group of skilled lawyers began to interrogate Amulek, he denounced their deceptive practices:

O ye wicked and perverse generation, ye lawyers and hypocrites, for ye are laying the foundations of the devil; for ye are laying traps and snares to catch the holy ones of God.

Alma 10:17

Later, Alma pointed out that one of those lawyers, Zeezrom, had been trapped himself, even as he had tried to trap Amulek:

I say unto you all that this was a snare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity.

Alma 12:6

What kinds of “traps and snares” has our adversary laid to capture us? Elder Anthony D. Perkins suggested three to recognize and avoid:

1. “The snare of false inadequacy” — believing that we are falling short when we are in fact doing God’s will and contributing meaningfully to His work.
2. “The snare of exaggerated imperfection” — dwelling on our mistakes and weaknesses and failing to believe that God can help us overcome them.
3. “The snare of needless guilt” — dwelling on past mistakes instead of repenting and moving forward with hope and optimism for the future.

These snares all have something in common: they all represent the clouds of self-doubt blocking the divine light of hope and forgiveness. In every case, the trap is triggered by pride, by an unhealthy form of spiritual self-reliance which says, I have to do this myself, instead of, I can rely on the assistance of a perfect and loving God.

Elder Perkins suggested three actions which can help us overcome these snares:

1. “See yourself as a precious child of a loving Father in Heaven.”
2. “Place your burdens on Jesus Christ.”
3. “Forgive yourself of sins and imperfections.”
4. “Sustain hope of eternal life.”
5. “Find joy each day.”

(See “The Great and Wonderful Love,” General Conference, October 2006.)

Mormon assured us that God can help us overcome all of these traps if we rely on Him:

Whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—

And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.

Helaman 3:29-30

Today, I will strive to recognize and avoid the snares of the devil, particularly those snares which result from an exaggerated reliance on my own efforts and a diminished faith in Him. I will trust Him more, I will be more patient with myself, and I will find joy.