A friend was mentioning today that in the heat of battle she felt like the Lord was telling her to just stand. And I agreed. This is often the way of the Lord.
It’s interesting really. When you look at Eph 6:10-20 you read about putting on armor, getting your feet ready, shield in place, helmet on, sword ready, etc… You would think that after having donned all this gear the Lord would say, “Now run to the battle!” But he doesn’t. Four times the Scriptures say to “stand.”
And standing really is a huge part of soldiering. People enter the military after seeing commercials of cool guys with big guns jumping out of airplanes. But a good chunk of soldiering is…standing.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
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. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, 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.”
Sometimes the best thing we can do is just stand. And not to worry, the battle will come like a flood against us. Our work is to be that pillar that doesn’t move–Standing against the devil’s schemes, standing our ground, standing there and standing firm.