The Right Training

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV). The attacks of Satan have been our theme the last two mornings. We talked about how the devil sometimes subtly comes at us and how at other times it is like a “blitzkrieg” attack. Just as Hitler did to Poland many years ago, so the devil does to us. However, so many times we face our enemy much the same way that the Poles did Nazi Germany! We are not equipped, we are not trained, and we do not have a strategy! We then fall to the enemy. Yesterday we looked at the need to be correctly equipped. Today we will look at the need to be properly trained. First, we ought to “be strong with the Lord’s mighty power.” There’s a line of dialogue in the movie “8 Seconds” that comes to mind when I begin to think about this truth. Lane Frost, who became the World Champion Bull Rider in 1987, was the subject of the movie. After one ride, he has been hurt and is lying in the infirmary when one of his buddies comes to him and tells him he needs to “cowboy up.” In other words, he needs to ignore the pain and get up. That philosophy has permeated our understanding of life in America. We are the people who pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. We are those who believe that we can do anything if we just put our minds to it. Tragically that is not what the Bible teaches. The Apostle Paul was not saying that we need to “cowboy up”! He said we ought to be strong in the power of the Lord. The difference is in the way we face our pain. Paul is not saying to ignore it. He is saying we can move through it. The world tells us that they can heal our ills. They tell us that if we eat better, try harder, and drink more water we will be healed. They show us commercials where one ibuprofen tablet gives one back his or her life. I tend to yell at the television every time one pharmaceutical commercial comes on that says, "Life is good, if you have your health." In my experience, there hasn’t been a pharmaceutical application developed that keeps me from getting up in the morning and not hurting to the point that I’m not sure how long it will take to be able to type this devotional. And, I know there are those of you who have much more difficulty than I do! Some of us don’t have all the health we may want, but life can still be good! Life can still be worth living. Why? Because if we take our worries and our bruised heart to Him he will mend it. However, we must discard the yoke of the world before we can accept rest for our souls that Jesus' yoke provides unconditionally. That’s being strong in the Lord! Tomorrow we’ll talk more about the “how” for employing the right equipment and the right training. Today as you face your trials, turn to the Lord for His strength and ask the Holy Spirit to bring peace into your mind.