Decoys

A recurring pattern in the battles in the Great War between the Nephites and the Lamanites is this: You can’t beat the enemy in their stronghold, but if you can lure them out, they become vulnerable. Here are some examples:

• The Battle of Mulek (Alma 52:16-40) – Moroni wanted Teancum to attack the city of Mulek, but Teancum saw that he could not win. After Moroni arrived with more troops, they asked the Lamanite commander, Jacob, to bring his army out of the city and fight them on the plains. Jacob wisely refused. However, when Teancum marched with a small number of men near the city, this easy target was too good to pass up. Jacob and his army pursued Teancum and his small army far from the city, until they met a larger army led by Lehi. Meanwhile, Moroni’s army easily took the city and met Jacob’s army in the rear. Surrounded, the Lamanites were quickly defeated.
• The Battle of Antiparah (Alma 56:30-57) – Helaman and Antipus drew the Lamanite forces out of the city of Antiparah by having Helaman and his 2,000 young men march past the city. When the Lamanites followed them, the army of Antipus attacked them from behind. The Lamanites who remained in Antiparah were not strong enough to defend the city, and it fell soon after.
• The Battle of Manti (Alma 58:1-2, 13-28) – Helaman tells us that the prior strategy no longer worked, because the Lamanites “remembered that which we had hitherto done; therefore we could not decoy them away from their strongholds” (Alma 58:1). Nevertheless, when he placed his army along the supply route near the city, the Lamanite army became nervous. They emerged from the city to attack Helaman’s army, marching past Gid and Teomner, who were hidden with groups of men in the wilderness. That night, while the Lamanites slept, Helaman and his army marched back to the city, retaking it without bloodshed.

What’s the lesson of these stories? Remember your main mission. Don’t allow decoys to distract you. The first order of business for these Lamanites was to defend the cities they had taken. Other objectives, such as crushing a small group of Nephite soldiers marching nearby, must never take precedence over defending the city.

Do we ever fall into this trap? Have you ever neglected your physical and spiritual health as you pursued an ambitious but speculative goal? Have you failed to accomplish the most important tasks of the day because of a steady stream of distractions? Have you allowed external pursuits to crowd out time and energy needed to build strong family relationships?

If so, a little self-reflection and rebalancing might be in order. As President Dallin H. Oaks has taught, “Just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives” (“Good, Better, Best,” General Conference, October 2007).

Today, I will focus on my highest priorities and avoid being distracted by less-important activities. I will remember that seemingly easy victories may be more challenging than expected and may prevent me from achieving my most important goals.