What are our struggles? That is a question that many of us don't know how to answer correctly. We always think that everything going on is just the stuff we can see.
Please read the following Bible passage:
EPH 6:10 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 saints.
If you read the above scripture, you may have noticed something. It asks us to put on the full armor of God to be able to handle the struggles we have to deal with. You may also have noticed that it says these struggles are not against flesh and blood. They are against spiritual forces of evil.
Lets think about that for a minute.
Spiritual forces of evil.
That should get our attention. I think it would explain why we need the armor of God. Do any of us know how to deal with evil on our own?
I don't think so. But most of us never give a thought to that part of our life, we think we just deal with the everyday stuff.
EPH 6:19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Even Paul, who wrote a lot of the New Testament, wanted people to pray for himself. Do you think his fears where only for the things of this earth. I would say with all he was doing, our enemy was definitely trying to make things rough for him.
But check out what Paul says in the next scripture.
2CO 10:1 By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you--I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
We can't just live the way society teaches. We have to be more then that. Do we do what we have just read? Paul tells us that our weapons are not from this world, our weapons have divine power. Our weapons are good enough to even bring our thoughts under control if we equip ourselves with them and use them. That is a powerful statement.
How do we equip ourselves?
Just like it said at the beginning, we have to put on the full armor of God. That is how we can have victory.
When Paul new it was about time for him to go, here is what he said:
2TI 4:6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Wouldn't it be great if we could say that at the end? Fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith? I don't know about you, but I know I am not there yet.
Lets make this our goal. Lets use the weapons God has given us and protect ourselves against the evil that is causing us to struggle. We can be as victorious as Paul, we just have to remember that our struggles are not all from this world. There are evil spiritual forces, but we have the tools to be victorious.
