Standing Strong Means Holding our Ground
By Leanna Simpson, Agape Executive Director
EPHESIANS 6:14
“Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.”
Last night as I lay in bed sleepless and praying, I thought about Deborah from the Bible. I picture her on a horse, with her sword drawn, and following God’s charge into battle. She was a warrior, resolute in taking ground for God.
In this series, we have talked through how to both be equipped and have a spiritual posture of surrender. The question that I struggle with is: how do we remain strong when facing things that cause us to doubt God, our faith, and possibly even God’s sovereignty?
Let me take you back to our high school days. If you have ever done a sport, or an extreme outdoor activity, how do we prepare? We talk through the mental game, the basics, the rules, the regulations, the parameters, and we learn the fundamentals of our position. Then we move into the equipment – the gear related to the game. We study it, and we become familiar with how to be prepared for the game or activity that we are setting our sites on.
Now comes the random and seemingly non-sensical part: the line-drills, pull-ups, weight training, distance running, the overall breaking and building of the body for the game or the “end-goal.” We run with team members. We have early morning and after school practices. We give up weekends, sleep, free time, and relaxation. Why? Because we understand one thing to be true: it is this preparation work that will allow us to stand strong in the game and fight for that long-anticipated victory!
The thing of life is this: we are in the “game” (i.e., battle). We are NEVER going to be on the bench. We are the “A team,” whether we have done the preparation work or not. We do not have a seasonal schedule and we are not given a “heads-up.”
In Ephesians 6:13 it says, “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand firm.”
Standing Strong means taking our faith seriously enough to be prepared and ready for the battle by praying, reading our Bibles, developing friendships that push us to spiritual conversations, worshiping, journaling, and giving up our weekends, sleep, free time, and relaxation BECAUSE we are not sitting on the bench.
Are we ready?
Today, get on that horse, take up that sword, and take back ground for Jesus, my friends!
Scripture Reading:
1 Peter 1:1-25
Worship Song:
“Same God” by Elevation Worship (feat. Jonsal Barrientes)