Stand Strong
Ephesians 6:10

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Over the years, I’ve learned that God doesn’t ask me to do something He hasn’t already provided for. When I am at my weakest, His glory is able to shine through the many cracks in this broken pot. It’s not because I am mighty. I’m probably wanting to curl up in a ball somewhere and bawl, but He has proven Himself able. If I allow it, He can work through my fears. He has always been able to make something beautiful out of the mess I call my life.

This full armor Paul talks about, what does that really look like? Put on the full armor of God, so that you are able to stand against the schemes of the devil, I mean come on, really? Can you hear Christians clunking around in metal suits, lifting their visor just to talk to a coworker at the water cooler? How awkward. Yeah, no. Today we’d be lucky to get a believer to drive a different car than their neighbor’s let alone wear a full suit of armor. I gest, of course, but only a little. Unfortunately, this imagery doesn’t fall far from the truth. Not the body armor, of course, but the wanting to fit in part. Research has proven that, as humans, we go to great pains to blend in with everyone else.

I strive equally hard to look good, blaming others for my woes. I bicker and fight with my counterparts while my adversary laughs. Deriving great pleasure and satisfaction as I swing and slipup, blindly flailing my arms and missing my target. But this passage clearly communicates that my fellow humans aren’t to blame. My struggle is not against them it says, but the spiritual forces of wickedness.

But how easy is that? Virtually impossible for this wounded and traumatized creature. It’s a rare day indeed that I choose to see my attacker as anything other than the poor sap standing before me. There is a 70’s song that declares, “I never promised you a rose garden, along with the sunshine. There’s gotta be a little rain some time.” That song plays on repeat when I remember the promises of God. Often, I have a selective memory. I want things to be easy. I work really hard to see that I’m minimizing pain, but He promised me it would be hard. In fact, He told me that those seemingly fighting against me would actually be fighting against Him, if I was living right. He also said I could call on Him to defend me and provide for my needs.

Faith is a choice. Believing is a choice. Trusting is a choice. We get to make the choice to trust and believe even when everything around is screaming it isn’t true. Therefore, He says, take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist when the times are evil. And they certainly are, aren’t they? When I read this, I am reminded that my faith in His promises is a choice. I can either believe that He is who He says He is; that He is good and that He has a plan for my situation, or I can choose to believe that He’s really a liar, I know better and that somehow my best thinking that got me into this mess, will somehow get me out of it.

Let’s pile it on, shall we. After you have done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm then! When I’ve come to the end of myself, and when I’ve done everything I know to do, then what? Yeah, I’m told to do it again, doing what He’s already told me to do. Sometimes this feels like a slap in the face. I want my knight to ride in on a white horse and defend my honor, but my honor, in the big scheme of things isn’t what’s important. My honor feeds my ego. It can make me feel superior. I think what He’s going for here is that I am gentle in the face of contempt, that I not throw gasoline on the flames of another’s rage so that He can show His love.

Today, let me care more about another’s pain than I do about my own. Let me remember whose child I am, because that’s the only way I will have anything to give to others. Let me submit my rights to the King of Kings so that, when the time is right, He will lift me up. Holy Spirit help me so that my actions might win the very souls I despise.