Warrior or Worrier

I was recently reminded that I cannot be a worrier and warrior. I cannot be a victor and be a victim. I cannot live in both fear and faith. 

It is like being in two places at once. I saw this happen portrayed in the movie, "A Walk to Remember."  But normally we cannot be in two places at once.

Along those lines, I have to either walk in victory or sulk in my victimization, but I cannot do both any more than I can be in two places simultaneously. We all have been victimized in some way or another. How we frame it determines if we will allow it to conquer us. I am not trying to minimize anyone’s experiences. I am only saying that the frame in which we choose to highlight the trauma, and difficulty truly determines how we stand in its aftermath. 

I have experienced suffering through traumatic experiences, emotional wounds at the hands of well-intended friends and family, and even church family, and I have experienced physical trauma at the hands of perpetrators. How I chose to move forward with those pains determined how I walked from that point forward.

I have not been shielded from the difficulties of this life. I have had many trials, hurts, offenses, and painful experiences. Each one was an opportunity to sit in the hurt and difficulty. It was also an opportunity to turn to my Lord or angrily turn away from Him. The latter will always end up hurting me more than the original pain ever could be. So, with each hardship, when I turned to the Lord, He grew me up and drew me closer to Himself. He used that which someone else intended to harm me for my good and His glory.

Out of all of these experiences, I either worry and fret, or walk in faith and trust in God. I know He has a plan. I know He has a purpose. He is in the process of carving me into the image of His Son. He can use any instrument He chooses to perfect this image He is refining. I choose to stand in that victory as a victor even before the battle is won because I choose to trust His handiwork in me and walk in faith, believing He is completing the work He started in me. 

Therefore, if I stand in these choices, I no longer have to worry, be upset, or be anxious about "many things" as Jesus said to Martha in Luke 10:41. I am a warrior, a fighter, a victor. I am an overcomer because I know the One who holds my life in His hands.

So today, let's walk in faith, stand in our victory as we see His hand, set aside those worries and anxieties, and embrace our warrior status. The victory is already determined ahead of time. It may not look the way we choose, but if we are in Christ, we already won the victory. Nothing and no one can take us from His hand. Now that is something to get excited about, actually, it is everything. 

I hope you have a wonderful day today. Stand a bit taller in your confidence of whose you are. Walk a bit more confidently in the One with whom you put your trust. Run the race He has laid out for you for you are in the Lord's army. The battles are so hard, but the overall victory is already determined. Read about the battle gear that is available for us to put on according to Paul.

The Armor of God

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, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Ephesians 6:10-20

 

 

Armor of God

Currently I am working through the Armor of God study with Priscilla Shirer.  I highly recommend it.  The movie War Room that is doing very well at the box office, is such a great complement to this study. Priscilla is also the leading actress in the movie. If you have the time, I suggest you check it out also.

The movie focuses on our need to do our fighting in prayer. The study talks about the armor we need as a Christian warrior.

The thing that I found most surprising in the study is the 7th piece of armor being prayer.  I had never put it together with the rest of the armor. I have read those verses in Ephesians 6 many times. And for whatever reason, I had not put it together.  But it is right there in black and white.

The first week we spent time studying about how to size up the real enemy. It reminded me that people are not the enemy. How often we war against one another. Even in our own homes, churches, towns and even within our own country. This week talked about how the war is fought in heavenly places and that we do battle in prayer. It was a reminder that we have an enemy that is trying to steal, kill and destroy us. It also talked about how he studies us for areas where he can attack us. He attacks us in our areas where we may be weak or hurting, but he also comes at us in areas of strength and places where we have the greatest influence.

The second week we looked at the belt of truth. Priscilla pointed out that the truth is simply God's opinion on any matter.  That is by far the best way for me to look at that.  As I seek the word of God

and study it, I just need to remember that I am seeking it to determine God's perspectives, standards and expectations. Once I seek it, I need to obey it, which leads me to the next week.

The third week is the breastplate of righteousness. As we study the word of God, we initially discover that we are lost, separated from God, and an enemy of God because of sin. Based on our confession  that "Jesus is Lord' and belief that God raised Him from the dead, we are saved. This belief, according to God's word, says that He counts that as our righteousness. Therefore, I am right with God because of Christ. I am not righteous because of my doing, but it is based on the one to whom I belong. Priscilla points out that Jesus' perfect righteousness is counted to me. Based on that account, I am now free to practice what I already have. She puts it this way, "Perfect makes practice." I have to exercise my righteousness. Because I am right with God, based on His grace through my faith, I am now reconciled with God which leads me to the follow week.

The fourth week talks about the shoes of peace. In this week, I was really challenged to consider that true peace is best displayed in "backdrop of chaos and commotion." Although we wish this were not the case, I think we all can admit that it is in the difficulties of life we tend to turn to God.  In the good times, we typically imply that we've got it, and we just don't have need of God... Maybe not consciously but subconsciously we sure do.  Funny thing is, we are always in need of Him, we are just not always convinced of it during the times of plenty and blessings.  It is when we are at the end of our ropes that we realize we needed Him all along.

We are to take the good news to the world that they do not have to be far away from God, but they can be brought near through Jesus Christ. This good news is watered down to the lost world when we are not walking in peace in our own lives.  We have to live with integrity and live out the gospel in order for the hearer to be convinced to even begin to listen to us. Without us living in peace, what exactly are we trying to share with the world? Hypocrisy is such a deterrent to the gospel. In this week of the study, she talks about our need to cultivate and activate peace. She says we do this by gratitude and trusting God. In our study group, one of the ladies noted that when we spend time recounting our reasons to be grateful it encourages us to trust God all the more.  That is such a great reminder to approach prayer with gratitude. As in Psalms 100:4, it tells us to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Take time to recount your blessings and focus on God, it will make you look at your list of requests in an entirely different way. And watch your peace grow.

I am currently working on week five.  It is about the shield of faith.  The main thing that is standing out to me so far is that faith is our belief in action based on our confidence. I will let you know if there is more to share on this topic as I progress.


The controversy and debate ask, "since we are right with God already, why not just live however we want to and sin?

I think we miss the point of this gift from God when this is the question we pose. If we really believe Him, we will obey His commands, we will believe He wants what is best for us. Even the restrictive rules that seem to take away our freedom, are truly for our protection. So when we surrender to the idea that He does want what is BEST for us and follow Him and His opinion of what is best, it is truly in surrender where true freedom comes into the picture.  It is like being able to breathe again. We can rest when we fully trust, lean into and surrender to God.