“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” Ephesians 6:10-18
I bet you skipped over reading part of this passage, because you know most of it by heart. Many of us have been hearing messages on this since we were in PreK Sunday school. We know we must pray and read our Bibles in order to armor up. We believe God will make us victorious over our enemy if we do these things. But I don’t think we have fully defined our enemy. We fight the obvious evil we see, such as standing against abortion and speaking up for prayer in schools, but we only fight against a small part of our attacker.
Picture yourself suiting up each day and being told that you are only to wipe out 5% of the army that’s approaching to defeat you. “Don’t worry about the other 95%,” your commander says. “We’ll get to them later.” The advancing army is going to attack 100% of you, though. Who would win? Would that be a battle you’d suit up for each day?
Our spiritual battle is the same, except our Commander is telling us to combat 100% of our enemy’s advances. Many of us have given up fighting, because we don’t even recognize the attacks against us. The devil is sneaky. While he can’t control our minds, he knows exactly what strategies to use to distract you from the actual battle, so you won’t fight. He knows that if you’re actively fighting with the Lord’s guidance and strength, he’s doomed. So here’s the biggest enemy you will fight against… are you ready? YOURSELF. It may be tough if you think you’re a pretty good person, but it’s true. You will fight your desire for comfort, your desire for control, your laziness, your desire to impress others, your desire to be successful, your impatience, your desire to do things your own way. And it might sound simple, but it’s the toughest battle in which you’ll ever participate. We want what we want, and we want it now.
So how do we begin fighting to win? Winning begins with surrender. We must give up every single piece of ourselves to our Commander, to be used as He deems best. He’s the only One with a bird’s eye view, capable of directing us around the land mines. We must begin asking Him to guide us, but we’ll only be successful if we follow every tiny instruction He gives.
Following Him means trusting Him. When God gives a command, we can either pretend not to hear Him and continue doing what we’re doing (see Jonah in the Bible), we can carelessly and blatantly disregard His instruction (see Samson), we can obey part of His directions (see Uzzah and Israelites carrying the ark of the covenant on a cart instead of poles as God directed), or we can obey His every word whole-heartedly (see Noah). If we do anything but the latter, we foolishly underestimate our enemy, and we obviously don’t fully know our God.
Now go back to the above verse and think about how we may need these things to counter our own bad habits. Define some areas in which you know God is calling you to change. What are some issues you must face head on if you are going to fully follow Christ?
Father, You are the mighty, living, all- powerful God and the only One fully equipped for giving us orders. Open our eyes to the unseen but very real spiritual battle that involves us each day whether we are suited up or not. Help us not to grow weary of doing good and not trust our own instincts, knowledge, or desires. Make us wise soldiers that hear Your voice, follow Your orders, and become more than conquerors. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:5-8
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39