Armed

 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. Ephesians 6:10-11

“Life is difficult.” So begins a book that has been a best-seller for the last twenty years. That simple line connected with millions of readers. Every person finds life to be such. But once you have signed on to be a disciple of Jesus, there are some unique difficulties that will come your way. Normal life is full of challenges, but the man or woman who steps out of the crowd, embraces God’s great plan and identifies himself or herself with Jesus Christ, will especially be under attack. Such a person has declared war on what Paul calls “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Look in the face of a modern terrorist and you will see the same hate that fills the heart of our spiritual enemy. And so for the believer in Christ, life is a battle. If we are to win (and we certainly can win), we must pay careful attention to what this passage says.

Strength from God, Not Ourselves

Paul puts the most important idea first: “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (v10). Very quickly he moves on to describe the rulers, principalities, dark powers and evil forces that we are up against. The key is to find our strength in the Lord because no matter how powerful the enemy may be, he and his legions are no match for the Lord of lords and the King of kings. The enemy who opposes us looks unbeatable until we view him beside Almighty God, who made heaven and earth. Like the nations Isaiah described (Isaiah 40:15), the devil and his demons are but a drop in a bucket.

            Why does God even allow such an enemy? You can speculate on that if you like. You can work to make sense of it if you please. The Bible just tells us he is real and he is out to destroy us. Then it tells us how we can win against him. If we are in a battle with an intruder, we don’t stop to figure out how he entered our house. We concentrate on surviving. We can work on other questions later. In the same way, the Scriptures tell us we are under attack and how to triumph over that attack. For now this is the relevant information.