Armor Up

I don’t know how we got to the topic, but my co-workers and I started talking about the spiritual attacks they’ve endure (and are still enduring) during the 1st year they got employed in this ministry. It’s pretty encouraging to know that I’m not alone. They warned me when I first flew down to Oklahoma for the team building event that spiritual attacks are going to heat up so I kinda braced myself for that. What I didn’t expect was that it was going to be an onslaught.

Spiritual attacks are pretty sneaky. It starts slowly. Somewhat innocently. Feelings of inadequacy. Feelings of insignificance. Then suddenly you find yourself with questions like “Where do I fit in the kingdom work?” “Did they hire wrong person?” “Does this even matter?”. Then doubt follows and before you know it, you feel down and are prone to make hasty judgment on things. Those who have been long in the ministry know what I’m taking about. Spiritual attacks are very real. And if not addressed, they can leave us very discouraged to the point that we disqualify ourselves from what God has called us to do.

But God will never leave us to fend for ourselves. When He ordains, He sustains. And if we take a look at what’s on our arsenal, we have pretty potent battle gear (Ephesians 6:10-17):

• Belt of truth – this means tying up spiritual loose ends. We got to be honest with ourselves in all aspects of our lives. If there’s a disconnect or a hypocrisy somewhere, then this belt won’t hold up. We should live our lives in relation to God’s truth.
• Breastplate of righteousness – The breastplate primarily protects the heart which is commonly thought of as the metaphorical seat of emotions. This means that we can keep our emotions and feelings in check by measuring it up to righteousness. What is righteousness? Doing what is right no matter how we feel about it. Righteousness should be precedent over how we feel about the situation or what our heart is telling us. Because in the end, God will not only reward that kind of obedience but also protect our hearts from straying away from the right path.
• Feet fitted with Gospel of peace – I wrote in an entry earlier that God is a God of peace, not confusion. And the Gospel should bring peace to our walk. It should give us the peace of mind to continue down the path of where He wants to take us, even if all we see if the next step. This divine support is what we should stand firm on.
• Shield of Faith – Now this is the only gear in the lot that the Scripture specifically says “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”. This is pretty critical. When the enemy starts shooting you with all that he’s got, we need our faith strong enough to act as a barrier. How do we do it? By getting in the Word and meditating on it day and night. By recognizing God’s faithfulness in your circumstances. By choosing to trust Him wholeheartedly. All of this will shield us from the lies, deception and doubt.
• Helmet of Salvation – I think it’s awesome that the breastplate protects the heart while our salvation should protect our minds. I think the feeling of salvation is powerful. People getting all emotional in altar calls. After feelings fade and everything sinks in, the Christian should be secure of God’s promise of eternal salvation. Thoughts become feelings and feelings become actions. We have to nip it in the bud by training our minds to take captive every thought. We have to be secure that we have been saved from sin and therefore, not being slave to it any longer.
• Sword of the Spirit (Word of God) – this is the only weapon in the whole spiritual gear yet a lot of people overlook it. I’ve done my fair share of not spending time in the Word, like waking up and trading my morning quiet time for some extra minutes of sleep. The Word of God is our spiritual ammo. We can actually launch an offensive against the enemy with it. Would you rather stay put and just wait for the roaring lion to devour you or would you take up your spiritual sword and slash the beast? Thought so. Well then, get on that reading plan and have some quality Bible time.

As I go over these verses, I’m reminded that we have the full armor right here. We just have to put it on.