To Stand

Today I wrapped up my recent read of Ephesians. I think that my heart was given a “heads up” to my reading this passage regarding spiritual warfare when a new friend recently mentioned to me that she will be leading a Bible Study on this subject in the near future. Hearing this news blessed me personally as I find that staying “in the game” is all about awareness of the battle; as in, I’m not fighting the good fight (2 Timothy 4:7) if I am not prayed up, acknowledging my neediness for Jesus’ light into unseen reality (ie the enemy’s as well as, God’s doings). The flesh is real and our flesh will only be comfortable living in the seen world, yes? A major (often neglected) spiritual discipline along these lines is found in 1 Corinthians 9:27: “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection….” At this point, I believe if we are honest, we should be in sync with Step #1 of AA.

How bout this as a relevant spin-off of Step # 1: “We admit we are powerless over the wiles of the devil, that our lives are unmanageable...”( “Wiles” in Eph 6:11 just means the strategies of the devil.) Do we really see ourselves as that helpless? I know I don’t much of the time. Please know that I am not in the least minimizing the power of God or the Christian’s ability to overcome the enemy; but, just putting it out there that walking in the Lord’s Spirit can only happen with the humility that comes by operating out of a Step #1 mindset.

In reading Ephesians 6 this morning, it jumped out to me that Paul pointed the church “to stand” 4 times in 4 verses. (I usually read from the NKJV) Paul must have been convinced of the truth of Step 1 for himself. He repeated himself 4xs in quick succession! As in, we better listen to the warning there.

The above indispensable mindset can certainly be called a “fighter’s mindset” Over the years I have been blessed to rub shoulders with many people who possess this mindset in human terms. Almost all of them have survived a tremendous amount of trauma. Their mantra (rightly so) is, “Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” as they have often lived their entire existence in a hypervigilant state of alertness to their surroundings. Go figure, right? If you are constantly having to scan your surroundings for danger, you are in survival mode. I believe these trauma survivors deserve our utmost respect. They are living proof of the tenacious human spirit.

For those of us who have never lived through much trauma in life, we can learn much from those who possess such a resilience/fortitude. No, I’m not suggesting that we fight our battles in the flesh; but, to simply listen and learn. The transfer of strength from listening to their stories is real if we grab hold of it. Even the spiritual strength of broad shoulders to bear their burdens (Galatians 6:2) is sourced in the grace of God. We are a needy people no matter what way you slice it; but, we can be all the more grateful to the Lord for His delighting to show up and give us what we need, when we need it . We can take His 100% perfect track record of faithfulness to the bank. The battle may be real; but, the loving help of Jesus is realer!

I hope you will be blessed by the lyrics to the song below:

“Fight on, Fighter (Theatrical Remix)” For King & Country