A tenant of the Christian faith that isn't very appealing to most people is the idea of long-suffering. That bad things happen and that we are just suppose to live through them without cursing God or loosing hope. This would seem a near impossible task, and it has indeed felt impossible on may occasions, except for the fact that God, as always, has provided a way for us to do it. 1 Nephi 3:7 comes to mind:
7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.
The way that God has prepared for us to handle this whole long-suffering thing is by building up our ability to take whatever life throws at us. In other words, He gave us armor.
The urgency for putting on God's armor is nicely said in Ephesians 6:11:
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Satan is real, and he is constantly attacking our spirits. He does not play fair simply by definition of who he is, and we need to be a prepared as we can be.
But this armor isn't just something that we're suppose to put on and then hid in a corner and hope we don't get hit. God doesn't give us something unless he expects us to use it. He has given us armor to go out and do His work, like it says in 2 Nephi 1:23:
23 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.
Fear and laziness can bind us down, while God's armor can lift us up.
But what exactly is God's armor? It isn't something you can buy at a store and it isn't something they hand out at church. A listing of the armor of God can be found in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 and in Doctrine and Covenants 27:15-18:
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
15 Wherefore, life up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand.16 Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you;17 Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;18 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also. Amen.
The armor of God is everything we have been learning about since we were kids. It is faith, and hope and living according to God's commandments. It is love and service and all the other things that you get simply by trying to follow Christ. But it is one thing more. You might have noticed that in the last verse above it mentions a weapon, something that isn't just defensive. That is the Spirit and the word of God. That doesn't mean that we could go around smashing people, Christ was pretty clear about how he felt about doing that in 3 Nephi 11:29, but we can use it to cut through doubt, fear, and those who would try and teach us fault doctrine. We will be able to recognize truth.
