Are you wearing your full armor? (Part 1)

Over the past weeks I have had moments when I had to deliberately avoid the news. Nothing else dominates the headlines other that of the global pandemic raging around the world taking lives, destroying livelihoods and families, rendering many jobless. It is a plague in size and proportion like one that happened a hundred years ago. I found myself reeling looking at the news and feeling a sense of dread for my family. What if it strikes us? Or our loved ones back in India? So many questions plagued my mind until I read my Bible two days ago and the passage for the day was Ephesians 6. The Holy Spirit began revealing the depth of the verses in the passage and I pray and hope as you read this blog, that you too will be set free (as I am) from your anxieties and that you too will experience deep joy and freedom as I do. Owing to the depth of the passage before us, I have broken it down into a series of blog articles so you can chew on it slowly. I will be posting the next parts over the next weeks.

So let’s begin!

Ephesians 6: 11 says: “Put on the full armor of God SO THAT you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.”

God is calling all of us to take hold of the full armour. Not just bits and pieces of it but the armour in its entirety. We do not and cannot stand a chance against the tactics Satan throws at us unless we are fully equipped. So what are the pieces of armour that protect us? What kind of tactics and ploys do these protect us from? Read on to find out what I gleaned the past two days from this passage.

Why do we need the full armor of God?

Ephesians 6: 12 says, “For our battle is NOT against flesh and blood, but against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. THIS IS WHY you must take up the full armor of God, SO THAT you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.”

Let me break down the above verse and lay it out carefully for you, as the Holy Spirit speaks. First of all, we need to acknowledge that we are ALL collectively engaged in a battle. This battle rages against our every being. Ever since we became Christians and decided for Christ, we are thrown into the frontlines of the mortal combat between God and Satan.

Our battle is not against people!

When we talk about battle, we obviously expect people we are combatting with, right? Like other human beings. That colleague at work. That pesky family member. That annoying teacher. That exasperating teenager. That nagging spouse. Ugh. And then we take out on them full force with our emotions. We get angry. We give them the silent treatment at times. We confront them. Perhaps we get nasty with them. I know we all identify ourselves with such moments when someone or the other in our life gets on our nerves.  Yet the Bible says in effect, “Hey, cool down. The one you need to be targeting is not the person you are mad at. Understand that you are engaging in a battle. A spiritual one.” Now don’t get me wrong: not every ‘battle’ with another human being is a spiritual one. I believe that when we understand what the tactics of the enemy are, we understand if the battle arises from those very tactics and we are prepared to stand against him.

Our battle is against world powers of darkness. The Bible indicates that there is a world power of darkness. There are also spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. Another version of the Bible says they are ‘principalities and powers of darkness’. And these wreck havoc on mankind. Imagine it is almost like another world government with rulers and evil spirits much stronger than any of us (but not as strong as God Himself) that are actively involved in the world of today and these engage in battle with US as His children. I know of some Christian who vehemently deny the presence of any powers of darkness. Yet the Bible states plainly in Ephesians 6 that they exist and that they are fighting against US, as God’s children every moment of the time that we are alive in this world.

‘Take up’!

The passage also mentions “taking up the full armor of God” in conjunction with “having prepared everything”. There are 2 actions involved here: taking up and preparing. We are to take up the full armor (not just in parts!) and we are to ‘have prepared everything’. Both these actions are necessary to help us with two outcomes: to be successful in resisting the enemy in the evil day (when Satan and his cohorts attack us) and to take our stand. The dictionary defines ‘taking a stand’ as ‘defending one’s views or beliefs’.

We ought to take up the full armor. It is a voluntary act that requires of us to do something- to take up. We are not automatically endowed with the full armor everywhere we go. But God has given them to us for our disposal and they are within reach. God never runs out of supplies to equip us for our battles.

Prepare everything!

This brings me to the next action: having prepared everything. Here is what some other translations have to say about this part of the verse:

 “be fully prepared to hold your ground.” (The Voice),

“Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own.”(The Message)

“having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].”(Amplified Bible)

“And ·when you have finished the whole fight [^Lafter you have done/accomplished everything], you will still be standing.”(Expanded Bible)

“And when you have done everything you could, you will be able to stand firm.”(International Standard Version)

“when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (NIV)

There is a taking up of the armor, there is a time of engaging in battle during a crisis situation/ time of danger. God has given us in effect weapons that enable us to stand firm during a time of battle and to emerge victorious when we take up these weapons. How amazing that especially during a worldwide crisis as now, we can take up, engage and stand firm!!

In the second part of this blog next week, I will go into details of the different weapons God has given us for our disposal. For now, allow these verses to sink in deep.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, how can I thank You enough that You remind us not only of the fact that we have an invisible dark world ruling over us but also that they are engaging with us in battles that we do not see with our eyes. But You see the battle the enemy is engaging us with and You have given us every weapon we need to emerge victorious. Help us to take up what You have given us. Help us to be alert and prepared. Enable us to stand our ground. In Jesus’ Name, amen.