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First of all, I'd like to recognize all the Fathers out there who have stood up to the task and raised their kids right. Married fathers, grandfathers, single dads, step-fathers, foster dads, adoptive dads, god parents, spiritual mentors, and expectant fathers, all of you are important to a child's life. Uncles who take on the role of dad in your nephew's lives. Any man who takes an active part in raising children, whether they be their own, their spouses', or someone else's entirely by family, friend, or Church association, all are important in that child's life as long as they are a positive role model.
My own father is wonderful. He's made a lot of sacrifices over the years of my childhood. Sending me to Christian School so I wouldn't be bullied, (too bad it didn't work, but that's not his fault). He worked 5 1/2 days per week and still does all the cooking and cleaning around the house. My mother has always worked as well, she simply isn't domestic.
For those of you who grew up without a positive father figure in your homes or are growing up now without one, I can only pray God brings someone amazing across your path to fill that role for you. Or if you're older, and it's too late in the game for that, I pray you find comfort in our Heavenly Father.
So now to focus on our Heavenly Father with today's question --
How Can I Stand Firm in the Face of Suffering and Evil??
This is perhaps the most relevant question we can ask in these times. Not to say the others we've covered the past 10 weeks aren't, but this one is probably more active in more of our minds than any of the others. Probably combined!! This is due to the fact that it's "in our faces" every day. I mean, just a brief look over the past year or 2 brings a plethora of issues with it. I try to steer clear of politics on here, but we all know the headlines of the times. As Billy Joel has said, "we didn't start the fire..."
The Devil and his influence on this Earth are very real. That's the bottom line. That's where the fight truly is. And the stronger we are in our own Godly influence, the harder Satan pushes back against it. So what's to be done about it??
Let's turn to Ephesians 6 and find out --
Verses 10-20 of Ephesians 6 are very familiar to those of us who've "been around the block" a time or ten in Church world. The Armor of God is listed out as protection against anything the Devil may confront us with. Paul gives us a physical representation of all God can do for us in warding off the Devil's attacks. In a world of suffering and evil, God has given us all we need to stand firm. We have only to put it on and pray through.
Everyone is equipped with 2 natural responses to danger. Fight or flight. It can be all too easy to choose the "flight" response when it comes to the headlines. By that I mean that we may adopt a dismissive attitude toward it and ignore it because it seems too scary or simply too big for us to deal with. My own response appears that way at first, but when I explain myself, it's really about standing firm.* Dismissal may look a few different ways --
Outright denial -- "if I don't look, it's not real"
Comparison -- "it could always be worse" or "What I'm going through isn't nearly as bad as what someone else is going through" or "What I'm going through is worse"
Blame -- "it's that politicians fault" "it's that parties fault" "it's that group over there" It's always someone else, never us. We negate our own role in things when we blame others. And that's true whether it's on a national, state, or local level; or even just in our personal lives. The fact is, if you're involved in any way, you own at least partial responsibility for the situation at hand. Remember that the Devil is out to "divide and conquer." But we can only fight it if we take responsibility for our part.
Explain -- We look for a purpose in it or we ask God "why?". We may even ask God, "Why me??" We know we're not perfect (hopefully), but we still don't understand what we did to deserve so much trouble.
All of these modes of dismissal come down to the same point. They are all about control. We like to feel powerful and secure in our world. We enjoy feeling comfortable. We don't like something, we try to make it go away. The truth is, that does just as much good as going to the Arcade or Carnival and playing "Whack-a-Mole". Hit one down, and another pops up in a different spot. We can't just will trouble away or deny it away. God gives us what we need to stand up and face things. We just have to trust Him and fight. And it doesn't mean we don't have questions or doubts, it's just about having the humility to believe that Jesus is Lord and not being moved from that position no matter what we may see, or hear, or feel to the contrary. Because we need to remember, the battle is not against flesh and blood, it's in the spiritual realms. (vs 12)
The Devil is not the Halloween image of horns and pitchfork, He is beautiful and deceptive. (creature in the Garden)* The devil's tools are lies, disease, division, and death. (Jn. 10:10) As mentioned above, as God's Kingdom advances, the devil and his minions fight back all the harder. We may have a desire or tendency to "write it off" and say we'll understand later, but we can't allow ourselves that luxury. We are God's hands and feet on this Earth, and as such, need to be "battle ready" every day of our lives. Because like it or not, that's when and where Satan attacks. It may be a family squabble over a misunderstanding, it may be a difficult co-worker, a driver who cuts you off in traffic, etc... literally any spot of trouble in our day may be an attack of the devil. Not to say some things may not be our own mistakes or mishaps, like spilled coffee or getting someone's order wrong at the restaurant. But I think you know what I mean. Conversely, the devil could sneak in looking like the man you've always wanted, but can't have because he's married. (personal truth here from several years ago) The good news is, that it's not our strength we need to rely on, it's God's.
Let's get back to our passage in Ephesians and look at our armor --
Verse 10 is God's invitation to rely on His power. He provides the armor, but it's also His strength that gives it power in combination with our faith.
Belt of Truth - This is God's truth, not ours. God's truth is that He is in ultimate control. The Devil's time of reckoning is coming.
Breastplate of Righteousness -- God's righteousness in Jesus gives us our right-standing with Him, and therefore His power to resist the devil.
Gospel of peace -- our feet are covered in God's gospel of peace. Romans 10:15 speaks of how beautiful the feet are that bring Good News. It's The Gospel of God we are standing in/on, and our footing can't get any more solid than that!!
Shield of Faith -- a shield may or may not provide full coverage, but it protects from the "kill shot" and shows us what is most real. And that is the fact, once again, that God is in charge.
Helmet of Salvation -- The renewing of our minds according to Christ is important to the battle. (Rom. 12:2) If our minds are full of wrong thoughts or distractions, we will not be properly ready for the fight.
Sword of the Spirit -- The Word of God is our weapon to battle against the Devil's attacks. That brings some of our other recent messages into play. Consistency in reading the Bible and Praying are critical to the fight, just as proper diet and exercise are critical to sports training.
As we can see, there is nothing lacking in our protection. And one point that wasn't brought out yesterday that I heard in a Book Study about the Armor is this, the armor only works if we are facing the enemy. We can load on all the armor we want, but if we then turn our backs, we are just as vulnerable to attack as if we were in street clothes. God didn't give us the armor to sit in the closet or turn away. He empowers us to fight.
That power comes from prayer as much as from reading the Word. We need the direction and focus in order to be ready for the attacks. Otherwise, we may be blind-sided and caught off guard. But if we prep with prayer, we will be that much more alert, and especially if we follow the instructions of our passage in Ephesians in verse 18 where Paul is telling them to pray basically all the time. Have your mind and mouth ready to pray at a moments' notice.*
Prayerlessness only shows dependence on ourselves. It is lazy and prideful.
Prayerfulness shows dependence on God. It is humble and purposeful. It fosters intimacy with God. The late great Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "To endure the cross is not tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ."
Finally, Pastor Matt left us with these thoughts -- If we trivialize troubles, we trivialize God's grace. The boldness of God is greater than the boldness of Evil. We need to pray the Armor on every day. Remember John 16:33b "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." -- God Bless!!
Footnotes --
I limit my news exposure to social media friends I agree with on FB and one news outlet on MeWe. Even then, I don't usually read many articles. My response seems cold and detached in the face of all the tragedy and trouble. Some have attributed a certain "emotional overload" or whatever. That's not it at all, because I don't pay enough attention for that. Here's my explanation -- "Yes, what's going on in the world is horrible, but I've read the end of the Book. God wins, the rest is details."
The Devil started out as just a "beautiful creature". He didn't become a serpent until after the fact. (that being said, I still find snakes creepy) And my confession about my personal life also makes me think of the old song about "Somebody's Knockin'"
Mention of "constant prayer" always puts me in mind of Tevya from "Fiddler on the Roof". He was always praying when he wasn't talking to another person. Would that all our lives be that way!!
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