The Armor of God: Forward Facing

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, and against the world forces of the darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Ephesians 6: 10-13

     We, my family, are on the verge of our second international adoption. By my calculations, we are down to months---six or less.  I know the realities of what we will face. I've walked this road, before. I know the realities that this nearly six year old boy, my son, will face. I've witnessed them with my Jack. We're heading into battle, a battle for the unseen--hope, joy, peace, love, faith, all the fragile, intricate pieces that make up the inward parts of a little person we will call our own.  There will not always be Hallmark endings that fit tidily into our self-made, dreamed up boxes. There WILL be hard days, maybe, many hard days--possibly, years of hard days. That's how putting broken pieces back together looks. It's messy business.

     How do we face the battle? How do I, the one who goes by the simple title Mommy, look into the eyes of my child, see overwhelming hurt, grief, abandonment, confusion, anger, fear, insecurity, and not crumble--completely crumble into the farthest corner imaginable and never get up? He is how. My father says,   "Put on my armor, face forward, and move into the battle." 

1.  The armor is His.  We do not manufacture, hope for, or earn His armor.  That would mean that it somehow belonged to us.  The very nature of the armor is derived from God.  It has been since the beginning.  It was  made available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  If we are a believer, it's lying at our feet.  Because we are His, it is ours. We need only to put it on!

2.  We choose to wear the armor.  Twice in the above scripture, Paul admonishes the church of Ephesus to put on God's armor.  Choosing God's strength over our own strength is a matter of the will.  Do we choose the tools He has made available to us by crucifying self, or do we choose to move in our own strength?

 Notice Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God. We can also opt to wear only the pieces of armor that we deem necessary, but scripture is clear. This will leave us susceptible to failure.

3.  The armor is meant to be permanent.  "Put on" means put it on, and leave it on.  We can conclude with certainty from this statement that trials, heartbreak, temptations, devastations...and the list could go on.. will come into our life.  If for no other reason, there is a spiritual battle that is going on around us, and whether we realize it or not, when we chose Christ, we chose the battle. Secondly, trials and temptations are not isolated events.  They will come and go as long as we are passing through this foreign land we call life. Our armor must be a constant source of protection.

4.  The struggles are difficult and exhausting.  The word used for "struggle" in this passage refers to hand-to-hand combat. In other words, satan can become up close and personal with us.  Although we all face common struggles, sometimes, the evil one will be allowed to hit us where it hurts the most. The demons knew the names of the apostles, and satan wanted to destroy Job. He is not oblivious to us. Lest we fear, the war was won at Calvary, however;  to have an effective walk, we should expect and be prepared for exhausting warfare that can only be won through the power of Jesus Christ.

5.  There is no armor for the back.  Of all the armor that is given to us by the Father, there is no protection for the back.  We are called to be forward facing, continuously moving ahead in battle--spreading the gospel, loving the unlovable, reflecting His glory--simply put, being aware and submissive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

We will be forward facing because there is never a need for retreat.  Our God, the Loin of Judah, lives within us.  It is impossible, through His strength, to fail in such a way that we could never get back up.  He created the Universe.  Surely, He has conquered every trial and temptation that could ever cause us to stumble.

Lastly, my friend, we are forward facing because we are continuously moving toward a glorious ending.  Trials here lose their grip when we set our sights on Eternity. No matter how battle weary we may be, there is coming a moment when we will march in from battle, many with wounds to show, and we will slip off that dented up, beat up armor and lay it at the feet of the very One who made the armor possible---forward facing, all the way to our Savior.

     

Casting Our Nets

And it came to pass, that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of  Gennesaret,

And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fisherman were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land.  And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them.  And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Luke 5 1-11

     As much as I like science, it's the statistics behind the science that really call to me.  The realist in me wants to know her odds, and the faith in me wants to know the odds that her God is going to overcome.  I wrestle between the two---my odds and my faith.  We all do.  Needless to say, when I heard these verses of scripture, I sat up and took notice.  Actually, my eyes took notice. They filled with tears. The odds said there would be no fish in that net. Faith said listen to the Rabbi.  Everyday, just as Simon Peter did, we choose between our odds and our faith--the concrete, what we can see and touch, and the unseen, the Father's promises and precepts. 

        What happens when we choose to let down our nets, even in the face of disappointment? The disciples had clearly been disappointed. What happens when we resolve, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to follow Him when it doesn't make sense, when it hurts, when the most we can muster is a "Help me, Father", when we can't see through our anger or our tears, when our home is silent, when our future is shattered, when there are no pieces to pick up because the pieces are simply gone.  So... what happens?

     Casting our nets after disappointment means we do what is counter-intuitive to our logic.  Simon made this point to Christ. "We've worked all night and caught nothing."  Peter had the feeling he was wasting his time, but he had enough faith to obey--despite his doubts.  Notice there is no sentence of rebuke from Christ written between Simon Peter's statement of the obvious and his obedience to Christ. Faith, which translates into obedience, doesn't have to come without fear or hurt or questions. It means faith should follow even in the presence of all these emotions. Through tears, confusion, and disappointment, we cast our nets.

We Get a Glimpse of the Savior
     We would be remise if we mistook the fish as the blessing.  Read the last line of the passage. They left the fish! They forsook everything. The fish were nothing to Peter, James, and John. This scripture is not about Jesus giving a group of fisherman a bunch of fish. It's about the Giver of the fish. The miracle caused these boys to get a glimpse of the Savior.  They recognized His sovereignty over all of creation. They knew they had come in contact with the real deal, the Messiah.

     This recognition started to change the fishermen from the inside out.  Peter fell at Jesus' feet and confessed his tenacity for being a sinner.  He realized who he was in relationship to the Messiah.  Jesus was God and worthy of Simon's everything.  It was the day Simon Peter surrendered his life to Christ.  He would never be the same.

   Obedience in the face of disappointment--complete disaster, even the kind that seems unfixable--changes who we are because it changes how we see the Father. Our minds can not get an understanding of our Father if we sit with clinched fists and fear in our hearts, refusing to listen to His call. It is impossible for the Savior to transform our hearts when we choose self-preservation over the One who wants to transform our inward parts.  

   
     When we answer, "Yes." and walk in the paths He has called us to, He starts the renovation. Everyone's call is different, but there's always a call. The answer is our choice. To say yes means, we begin to see the sovereignty of Jesus.  There is nothing that is beyond His sphere of control. It changes our hearts. It makes us more like Him. Our lives are never the same.

We Get a Glimpse of Our Future
     The fish represented a much larger idea. Jesus was in essence saying, "You ain't seen nothin', yet!"  The fish were a picture of the men's lives that would be impacted by Peter, James, and John's obedience. They were going to turn the world upside down for Christ.  They got a glimpse of their futures, and the futures were way cooler than being fishermen.  Christ allowed them this insight.  They clearly could have had no idea of the scope of their influence, but it was enough of a glimpse for them to be all in.

    Refusing to allow disappointment to hinder our full-on surrender to Christ can do the same for us. Christ gives us a glimpse of our future. Sticking with Him means we are allowed to experience the weaving back together of our broken dreams. We start to recognize that with Christ our futures are unbreakable.We, like the Disciples, will never know nor understand the full impact we will have on future generations, but  what casting our nets teaches us is that we are unstoppable, invincible. We are more that conquerors with Christ.  This, my friends,  is our future.

He is our future.