Areas of Weakness

We all have them, and most of us know what they are. Do we just have to live with them? Captain Moroni didn't. He recognized the areas of weakness in his country, and fortified them against his enemies. (He knew who they were, too.) He identified the places that wouldn't withstand an attack, and strategically strengthened them in anticipation of the battle he knew would come. And come it did, but "...to their utter astonishment, they were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known..."

Sure enough, he trounced the bad guys -- but "it came to pass that Moroni did not stop making preparations..." He (1) heaped up earth into ridges, (2) built works of timbers, (3) placed strong and high pickets on top of that, (4) built towers to overlook the pickets, and (5) built places of security upon the towers. Not only that did he prepare defenses, but his army went out looking for and driving out bad guys from their land.

Can I identify my areas of weakness, and fortify myself? I could avoid the places or situations that trip me up and suck me down, I could commit myself to positive things (so I'd be too busy to blow it), I could read the scriptures to support myself, I could invite my friends and family to help me with my efforts, I could use prayer as a safety net. I could even seek out the excuses and rationalizations and bad habits that plague me and drive them out of my heart, my mind, my life. The Lord says that He will make weak things strong: when I am willing to work as hard as Moroni did to defend and fortify myself and those I love, God will show me how to strengthen my areas of weakness, how to build each day the fortifications He knows I need for the battles, seen and unseen, that I face.