Withstanding the Storms

Ephesians 6: 11 – 12

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Do you want to be able to stand against the storms of life? Do you want to be able to remain firm when all around you the tempest rages? Well then, the first thing you need to understand is that the fight is against the devil and his gang.

There are two problems I see with people distinguishing their enemy. First, they do not know who their enemy is because they do not have a realization of the devil. There are many people in our society who do not even believe there is a devil much less that he is at work in this world all of the time. And even though this scripture is about as plain as it can be; even though the Bible clearly tells us that our problem is the spiritual forces at work, many Christians are just as misled as the rest. This works very well for Satan because if we don’t even acknowledge his presence then we cannot fight against him. So, he just wanders around uninhibited. That is a real problem.

Second, people generally focus on the people who seem to be the cause of their trouble instead of penetrating the sheath and recognizing that it is the devil’s crew behind the scene that is manipulating the whole mess.

If you are going to win against the schemes of the devil, you first have to recognize who your enemy is. Once you have done that, we have some answers about how to deal with his shenanigans. Verse 11 tells us that putting on the armor of God will give you the ability to stand against him. What is the armor of God? Verses 14 – 17 hold that answer: truth, righteousness, preparation in the gospel, faith, and salvation. You must put on truth and wear it like wearing a pair of pants. Wear righteousness as your shirt. Your shoes are the time you spend in the word. Faith is your shield. It completely encompasses you and everything you are. Faith is in everything you say and do. Finally, salvation, the precious blood of Jesus, is your hat. It crowns you and covers all. It is the top and everything else is beneath the saving grace. You wear these pieces of armor as part of yourself. Any piece you leave off, though, leaves you exposed. Do not leave truth out of your wardrobe. Don’t forget to put on your shoes of the Word. Every piece is important, and they will guard you and help you.

Battle Plan

2 Chronicles 20: 15, 17, 20

Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf. Put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.

This is just one of my favorite stories in the Bible. I wish for you to go to the 20th chapter of Chronicles and read the entire story for yourself so you can receive the richness of this event and its telling. Jehoshaphat, King of Judah was faced with the invading armies of three nations: the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Meunites. It was reported to him that a “great multitude” was coming against him. He sought God in this crisis and God answered him telling him, through the prophet Jahaziel, to stand and watch his enemies destroyed before his eyes. Jehoshaphat set those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him before the army. The text then reads, “And when they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed.” Jehoshaphat’s army never lifted a finger. The enemy was completely and thoroughly routed on their behalf by the might hand of the Lord.

This is the same power that is at work for you today. You don’t even have to lift a finger. You spend your time serving the Lord and let him fight your battles for you. The mightiest warrior of Judah that day did not even draw his sword. Jehoshaphat’s battle plan ended up being singing and praising the Lord. Wow! Can you imagine today a general directing his forces to stand with their weapons sheathed but their voices lifted to God? People would think he was crazy, at least until the battle was over. About the enemy of Judah that day the Bible says, “no one had escaped.” There was no loss of life on Judah’s side. What a wonderful report that would be to give to the people. Before hand, though, the general would look like a complete idiot. The moral of this story might be that sometimes you might appear crazy when you stand in faith but the results just cannot be beaten.

The lesson of the story is to let God fight for you. Stand firm and watch him deliver the enemy into your hands. How do you stand? Just stay resolute in faith and in speaking words of faith instead of words of doubt and struggle. Do what you are called to do and don’t be distracted by the attacks of the enemy because that is exactly what the enemy is trying to do, distract you. Let God handle the battles as you go about God’s work and you sing praises to the Holy One.