Armor of God Study: Sizing Up the Enemy

Recap

In this last session:

• We watched Pricilla Shirer's first video "Sizing Up the Enemy" and talked very briefly about the first week of the study book. (Week 1, pages 8–37)
• We passed around a notebook and asked the ladies in the group to write down their prayer requests so we could email them to everyone who shared their email address with the group.
• I later snapped photos of the notebook pages and sent them out to the ladies' email addresses.
• I also got our Facebook group started: Armor of God Study--First AG--2018

Thoughts On Standing Firm and Being Strong

Today, I prayed over each request in the list. As I prayed, I found myself repeating the same prayers over and over—Lord, may they find you. Lord, may they seek you. Lord, may they put their trust in you. Etc.

As I read the requests, I recalled from our study that to our enemy, the trials, suffering, and struggles we all face are opportunities to "bring us down." This is EXACTLY why Paul admonishes us as he does in Ephesians 6 (ESV):

• Be strong (vs 10)
• Stand, stand firm (vs 13)
• Stand (vs 14)

Here are some other places in the Bible where we as believers are admonished or encouraged to stand firm, hold fast, be strong, etc.—the contexts vary, but the message is overall clear. We are expected to stand firm in our faith in Jesus Christ. Please note that the links I have provided go to the entire chapter so that you may read the verse in context. Remember that context is very important as you study the Word of God:

• 1 Corinthians 15:1–2 (1 Corinthians 15)
• 1 Corinthians 16:13 (1 Corinthians 16)
• 2 Corinthians 1:24 (2 Corinthians 1)
• Galatians 5:1 (Galatians 5)
• Philippians 4:1 (Philippians 4)
• Colossians 4:12 (Colossians 4)
• 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (2 Thessalonians 2)
• 1 Peter 5:12 (1 Peter 5)

Saints, I may not have gone through exactly the same situations and trials you are suffering, but I have certainly been through some very painful trials. So what I am about to say, I am saying in love:

Stand firm. Do NOT cave in. (More on this in a sec…)

Get it into your heart and your mind that when you face the battle, you face it from a position of victory. You are not fighting FOR victory…you are fighting FROM victory.

• See page 20 in Shirer's book: "Once you've placed faith in Jesus, you are now transported with Christ to a position of victory. In other words, you have the home court advantage."
• See also page 68 in the book The Invisible War by Chip Ingram: "Spiritual warfare is never an attempt to gain victory. It is standing firm in what we already possess."

The original trial you are suffering may or may not be placed upon you by the enemy, but you better believe he is taking full advantage of it to take you down, to take down your family, your friends, those you love and care about.

Doesn't that make you mad? It sure makes me mad!

Here's a bit of irony that I don't think most people really "get"…to stand firm against all the attacks of the enemy, you need to bow down before God.

Saints, if you are not surrendered before God—face down before Him in humility—then you cannot possibly win this battle.

To put it another way…if you are to have any hope of standing firm, you'd better be on your knees.

Many years ago, I faced a situation that hit me really, really hard. I thought it would destroy me. The enemy took full advantage of it, too. He tortured me and pestered me and would NOT leave me alone. He tried several strategies. He keyed in on my weakest places and hit me the hardest there. It was, to date, the worst battle I have ever faced.

My only defense was to fall at my savior's feet and give Him all of my weaknesses. Most of the time, I had no idea how to pray or what to pray, so mostly, I just talked to Him and cried out to Him. I had to ask Him for His help over and over and over, to resist the temptations to collapse in despair and allow pain, anxiety, and emotion to rule me. I was years in that battle.

But submission before God and clinging to a feeble faith was the key to standing against the enemy. It really is ironic, isn’t it? The weaker I was, the more I had to cling to God…and the more He could pour His strength into me.

Any strength I have today was acquired during those years of battle. Don't misunderstand me…I am not taking credit for that strength. It comes from God. The enemy continually tests it, like one of those Jurassic Park raptors testing the fences for weaknesses. He gets through sometimes, when he finds particular weaknesses, but if I cry out to God while it is happening, the Lord comes through.
This is why Paul says that weaknesses make him strong, as evidenced by the "thorn in the flesh" he was subject to:

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV)

Please remember—and this is meant to comfort you—that suffering ultimately produces character, and hope. As believers, our suffering leads to good things:

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:2–5 (ESV)

Remember also how infinitely powerful God is. In the lives of believers, what the enemy intends for evil, God turns for good:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.Romans 8:28 (ESV)

And how powerful is God? Well, saints, let me share the most hopeful verse I have ever encountered about the mighty power of God--in reference to the faith of Abraham, Paul wrote this about the power of God:

[The God] who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Romans 4:17 (ESV)

God creates something out of absolutely nothing. This is the power that we have access to. God is on our side, saints. The enemy cannot possibly stand up to Him.

Don’t Dwell in the "Why?"

Saints, when you are struggling, do you ever cry out, "WHY???" I sure did. If you need to ask God why, and maybe even get a little mad at God--after all, He knew this was going to happen to you--that may be a phase you need to go through. I definitely went through it, and God allowed me to. He didn’t strike me with lightning bolts or hit me with his wrath. Instead, He let me cry out before Him about how much it hurt, and He let me ask Him why I was going through it.

But—and this is REALLY important—do not stay there. Don't "dwell" in that state of "why?" Chances are, you are not going to get an answer in this lifetime. This might be one of your temptations, and one of the areas where the enemy will prey upon you in your weakness, to stay in the "why" mode and never get past it. It causes you to despair, and robs you of the healing God wants to bring to your spirit.

And of course, it delights the enemy. He wants to keep you in "why" mode, because when you are in that mode, you have zero chance of being a threat to him.
This is why the writer of Hebrews says:

strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Hebrews 12:12 (NIV)

The fact that God is allowing you to walk through the struggle may be, in part, a discipline He is trying to teach you. It's not necessarily something God Himself sent upon you, but He is allowing you to go through it. He didn't put a stop to it. We may never really know for sure, but the Bible does tell us that hardship may be discipline—NOT punishment. Rather, God, by allowing you to face this trial, is causing you to become stronger.

I know, that's a difficult pill to swallow when you are in the middle of a very painful situation, but I hope it can comfort you to know that nothing you are going through is outside of the power of God.

Benefiting Others

God wants you to grow and to thrive, and to learn to walk in His mighty power. Who knows, but just as he refused to remove Paul's thorn in the flesh so that a greater good could be accomplished, He may need you to walk through this fiery trial because someone out there is going to enter the kingdom of God because of it.

Did you catch that? Your pain could ultimately result in another person being saved from hell.
God can—and will—use your pain to bring others into the Kingdom of God, if you will allow Him to do so. He's given you free will. You can choose what you will do with your suffering. If you humble yourself before the Lord and lay it all at His feet, if you make a choice to not purposefully dwell in despair, but instead, take all those painful feelings and bring them before God, He will use you and your experiences to rescue others from hell. This is why it is really important to lay your life down before the Lord and tell Him, as Isaiah did:

Here I am! Send me. Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)

When you face suffering, and when you face enemy attack, tell God you want Him to use this trial for the ultimate good. Consider that in this lifetime, your life can be completely ruined by any number of terrible things. Given that a life without hardship is not promised to us, the very best thing you can do is ask God to fulfill His purpose in Your life, and keep your eyes on eternity. Hold everything in this world loosely.

Saints, not a single one of you is without purpose. God has a plan and a purpose for each of you, but to have that purpose fulfilled, you must seek Him for it. Ask Him to accomplish it. And in so doing, He will ensure that your suffering is not for nothing.

Remember that Paul calls our sufferings "light momentary affliction" and gives us the assurance that everything we go through is "preparing us for an eternal weight of glory":

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:7–18 (ESV)

Regarding the "momentary" aspect of our suffering…I don’t know about you, but when I go through something really painful, it FEELS like eternity. So Paul has a reality check for us: the sufferings we go through are not worth comparing to eternity with Christ:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18 (ESV)

Conclusion

Saints, be encouraged. If you are going through a trial, God still has you in the palm of His hand. Nothing in God's economy is wasted. He can take the worst thing you go through, and ultimately use it so He is glorified. People can be saved because of your trial, if only you will submit yourself to the purposes of God.

THIS is how you stand strong in the face of enemy attack. None of this comes from your own strength. When Paul tells us to be strong, he follows it up with "in His mighty power." It’s not your power, saints. It's His. Fall on your face before Him. Cry out to Him, and He promises He WILL strengthen you, and that nothing, NOTHING you go through will go to waste.

Prayer

Oh, Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ who are going through rough waters. God, You see each pain and each tear we cry. I pray that you would comfort them and help them as they walk through their sufferings and trials. May they turn to you and seek your purpose in their lives.

Thank you that nothing we as believers go through is wasted. Please embed this truth in their hearts. May they fall before You in submission and seek Your purpose in their lives. Please pour your peace out on them. Please use their pain for a greater good, and may they receive a tremendous heavenly reward, after all is said and done.

Lord, as the enemy zeroes in on their weaknesses, I pray that You would be their defender. May we as believers lift one another up in prayer and encourage one another with Your Word. May those in pain cry out to you and allow you to walk them through it and provide Your strength so that they may stand firm in the face of attack. Teach us to cling to Your Word and to persevere in prayer.

Thank you so much for this opportunity to minster. May these words be used to glorify you and bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is in the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.