Losing the Sweat Pants, Putting on Armor

It may have started with me not doing my hair. . . then my make up. . . then putting on sweat pants with a little too much regularity. I'm feeling a bit too laid back and six weeks of it is not good for my soul. But even if I are home with no schedules or places to be God's mission for me does not get canceled the way everything else in the world has right now. Be ready the way He tells us to be, and great things will come of this.

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Ephesians 6:13

Spiritual warfare is not a once in a blue moon occurrence. Why would God tell us to put on His armor if there were not a battle raging around us? Armor is for fighting. Nothing else.

There is a sense of doing it daily, of practicing so that you will be ready for “the day of evil.”

And the next verse is in the present tense with that little helping verb “do” added for emphasis--- we do wrestle. We are wrestling right now. We need the armor now.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, against power against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Something happens as soon as God opens my eyes to something I need to work on to be Christ-like. If I feel called to focus on kind words in our house, or I want to strive for peace and trust in God for my homeschooling, or I feel empowered to take on a new responsibility I didn’t think I could handle before, it isn’t long before I will feel threatened. Questioned. Criticized. Scrutinized. What a perfect time for the devil to strike: before I’ve tasted any victory. Before I have even begun to make progress. Satan knows we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us so he will keep us from ever experiencing that if he can. So hold strong, warrior. Pray as you embark on good things. Don’t get discouraged by this battle. Be encouraged; if you were truly no threat to the ruler of darkness he would not waste his fiery darts on you. But you, a follower of Christ, grasping tight to that shield of faith, are absolutely a threat, and he will do whatever he can to thwart you.

One fiery dart will probably be the “belittling dart”. It will strike saying, “Does it even matter? This little thing you’ve decided to do, is it actually meaningful? Really, what difference will it make? You’re just one person in an immense world. You think your puny actions will make a difference? Don’t bother.”

If I give into that first lie I’ve already started to believe in the insignificance of the fight before me. Next an obstacle will arise. Now I begin to think, “Not only does this fight not matter, it’s also hard! Why bother?” I repeat the doubting language the evil one planted in me.

How do we combat this? God has a piece of armor for the job. “Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.” Truth, pure language from God will combat the worst, most devastating lies and expose them for what they are. Not our reality. God defines reality, and no other.

“Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Romans 8:29

“For the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” Deuteronomy 20:4

And here’s the spoiler alert---you win. You win! God wins! His saints win! Do not give into the lies and the fiery darts. They may cause us to stumble, to suffer for a time, but victory and eternal life are ours through Christ. Put on the armor daily until the day we will beat our swords into plowshares. The harvest will be great and the peace will last forever.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33