This morning, while sipping my coffee and enjoying a slow start to the day, I was only sort of paying attention to the cartoon my kids had on. The shows they watch in the morning are parent-approved and basically pretty good. They usually choose the superhero shows and watch the battle between good and evil. Today, I was struck with how they showed the superhero combating the evil ways of the villain.
The villain in the show had apparently been good “in another world”. Everyone seemed to remember that except for the villain. As the battle waged between the villain and the superhero, the hero began to talk down the villain, saying things like, “I know you were good once. I believe in you. I know you will not harm me.” He was talking down his opposition. And ultimately, he won because the villain listened just long enough to realize the superhero truly believed that his words had power behind them - power to turn a bad situation around, and to see the good that could come out of it.
The tactics that the superhero used, speaking truth into the situation with the villain,
hold true for us, too, as Christians.
In II Corinthians 10:3-5, Paul says -
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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.
When we battle tough situations, or attacks of the Enemy, our combat is not supposed to look the same as those who do not know Jesus. That means when we face situations where the Enemy is trying to destroy us, we need to respond differently. Maybe we need to step out in faith, or at least not cower in fear. Maybe we need to speak truth into the situations where we are struggling - God’s Truth.
We need to realize that as a follower of Christ, we are now a target for attacks by the Enemy. Satan does not want to see us on God’s side. He does not want our lives filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. He does not want our hearts and minds transformed by God’s Word. And so He is coming for us - He is out to attack us where he can.
How do you combat the attacks? The Bible gives us a very clear plan of how to stand against the devil.
Ephesians 6:10-17, again, from Paul -
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.
I like how this passage says, “so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground….” To me, (and this is just my opinion) this indicates that we won’t get attacked immediately, or constantly. We may not be in a battle right now, but…it’s coming. That’s what I take out of that particular section.
BUT - our armor needs to be on already. Do you see that? “Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes….” We aren’t supposed to wait for battle and then get ready; we’re supposed to be prepared in advance.
The passage goes on to describe the armor in detail, giving us an understanding of why each piece is important. I’ve heard many different pastors and speakers point out that the only part of this weapon that is for going on the offensive is the sword of the Spirit - the word of God - the Bible. We are to be prepared and covered in the full armor of God, but apparently we are not just supposed to stand there and take the attacks. We have the word of God to speak truth into the situation, to wage war with the enemy.
To wage war, you have to know your weapon, inside and out. Consider a soldier who uses a gun in battle - that soldier knows how to dismantle the weapon, how to clean it, what type of bullets it uses - he knows everything about his weapon. Why? Because he has spent time with it. He has had it in pieces, and then put it together as a whole. He has inspected every available spot to make sure nothing will hinder his use of the weapon. He has trained with it, specifically for combat situations so that he knows exactly what will happen and does not need to have a fear of using his weapon in the midst of battle. He is prepared. He knows his weapon as though it were an extension of his person.
So, here’s the important question: Are you ready? Are you ready for when the attack comes? Have you put on the full armor of God? Have you prepared with your weapon as the soldier has? Paul is very clear - our struggle is not against flesh and blood - it is not of this world. It is a spiritual struggle and we have all of the protection that we need, along with the only weapon we need.
Dear friend, are you ready? Maybe you need to step back and re-evaluate your battles, knowing that while they seem bound in things of earth, they are really a spiritual fight for your soul. Maybe you need to prepare in advance and choose today to clothe yourself with the armor of God so that when your battle comes, you are prepared. And maybe you need to check your weapon. Clean it off, open it up, learn what’s inside of it, so that when the attack comes against you, you are already prepared.
Just like the superhero in the cartoon my kids watched,
let’s be prepared to speak truth into our battles -
God’s Truth!
Don’t worry; I’ve chosen out a select few.
After spending time in Central Park, we got in the van and drove the whole perimeter of the park, before heading across the Queensboro Bridge, and eventually onto Roosevelt Island. There is a small park at the northern end of the (very small) island, and in that small park there is a small lighthouse. Since my husband loves lighthouses, we spent time trying to figure out where we could (legally!) park on the island, and then we walked up to the park to take a few pictures. Considering that the doorway is standard doorway height (whatever that is, a little over 6 feet, maybe?) you can tell that the lighthouse is not very tall. And it was closed off so we were not able to get much closer, but we were still glad for the walk and the gorgeous view from the island back into Manhattan.
Life stories - we all have a variety of them. Some are good, and we love to share those stories. There are other stories, though, that we probably wish we never had to contend with. I think that maybe we forget that our stories are not just for us, they are not solely ours. We are not the author of our stories, of our lives.
All 3 of our children take piano lessons and the music in our home is often lovely! It’s a blessing to hear a wonderful combination of sacred, classical, and popular music filling the air. They all work hard, and while the practicing definitely takes some time and effort, the return on the investment comes in the form of beautiful music and the makings of a lifelong talent. There are the occasions when all three of them are learning new music at the same time. The music is not so lovely at that time, as they plunk their way through new tunes. It sounds a lot less melodic, and I’m tempted to wonder what we were thinking by signing them up for lessons. But we keep going.
But then, there’s this guy - see that face? I know - I can hardly see it either. We have spent the 9 years since he was born, trying to help him in one way or another. From early feeding issues, to a then-unknown speech and language problem, to wondering if he could actually hear or not, to countless nights where he couldn’t (or sometimes, wouldn’t) sleep - we have been there. 
And so I started to gather his clothes for camp yesterday. We talked about outfits, getting his clothes back into the bag at the end of the day, how to decide what to wear on his feet, to put on a sweatshirt if he was chilly, that all his clothes and items will be labeled. 
