Defense

Since I’ve been in Kenya I’ve been encountering this passage a lot. In different ways. In Mozambique Sign Language. In Kenyan Sign Language and in English. I mean, ok, I get it. I’ll pay attention.

Do you know how much God loves us? So bloody much. And the Armor of God passage is another way that he proves that. I mean, if you watch the Kenyan SL translation, he mentions the enemy and evil spirits fighting us. Look at his face. It’s serious battle. It’s not kids’ stuff. And what does God do? He gives us armor. For our full bodies. The enemy is real. He attacks. He abuses. He’s cunning. He’s shrewd. He isn’t always obvious. And God didn’t say, “Welp, good luck.”

He gave us helmets, belts, shields, breastplates, swords, and yes, even shoes. He prepared a way for us to fight in battle. But do you know what it says at the end? If you use these, victory is yours! You’ll be able to stand. Wow.

But, it also says, your battle is not against flesh. It’s not against your friends and your not-so-friends. And my addition, it’s not against yourself. You fight the Evil one. And victory is yours.

So, when you’re lying in your bed, whoops, wrong story

When you’re feeling like the world is against you, you’re right. But there is hope and there is victory. Don’t stop and become overwhelmed, put on your armour. Say, “Faithfulness, Truth, Righteousness, The Word, The Spirit, and Salvation are mine today and we will win.”

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.