"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm." Ephesians 6:12-13
Standing firm in the face of adversity, it has been a common them in messages recently. Steadfastness when the enemy attacks. It's easy to forget who the enemy is especially when the attacks feel constant.
This passage reminds me it is not the person in front of me that is my enemy. It doesn't matter how different we are. It doesn't matter how evil their actions are. It doesn't matter if everything they do is against me. There is not flesh and blood in the fight, only rulers, authorities, cosmic powers and other spiritual forces of evil.
The armor of God is our defense against these. Our only offensive gear is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. It is in Him alone that we can withstand. Then when we feel we have nothing left, we are called to stand.
When I look back on the struggles I have faced in my life, I can see it was nothing I did to get through a lot of them. Much of the time, my role was to stand strong in faith. I had to stand still in the natural and let God fight the battle.
At times, I was busy doing my own thing. I was trying to fight spiritual things in the natural, because I wasn't willing to look at what was really going on. I wasted precious time and energy instead of doing what God said to do and put on His armor.
God never forces His will upon us. We live in a fallen world. There are spiritual forces at work all the time. Holy Spirit is big, stronger, more powerful than any other spirit. It is not a competition, Jesus finished it at the cross. We just have to stand in the natural and use the spiritual armor to withstand in the spirit.
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