Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor. (6:13)
We have to get rid of the idea that we can protect ourselves in this fight. We can’t. We do not personally have the resources.
“Well, how do I get those resources? How do I acquire them for myself so that I can be self-sufficient, and not have to ‘bother God’ to take care of me in this fight? Sounds like something I need to come into possession of, and grow into. Seems useful for the struggles that are ahead!”
You can’t summon your personal resources. Save yourself time and effort and trouble.
We have to get rid of the notion that we are capable within ourselves of taking care of ourselves in this fight. And it may be easy to think that. After all, there are several things that we are entrusted with doing, as we have been noticing in this study. We are instructed to take certain actions: we are to put on the armor, we are to resist, we are to stand strong. However, the armor we are putting on is the armor that belongs to God and comes from him. God provides the resources we need.
So, our job is to take what he has given and use it. We have to guard against the pride that says, “I’m a mature Christian. Surely God has equipped me with what I need to be successful in this battle! Just turn me loose! I’m sure I can do this!” He has equipped us with an awareness that we need him, completely, and that without the tools he has given us, we aren’t going to make it! Attempting to take on the Enemy with our own resources, we will not resist, or stand strong, but give up ground, and face a spiritual setback.
I find it easy in a spiritual warfare study to want to jump in and discover, examine, and talk about every individual piece of the armor and their distinctive characteristics and uses. We are going to look at them individually and discern what they are and how they are used in this struggle. However, the starting place is to be aware that these are armor pieces that belong to God and pieces which He gives to His people for the battle. He equips us; we take that equipment and use it. To say it yet another way: we don’t own the equipment needed. It is provided by him for us to put on.
Using our own equipment—or own devices, strategies, plans, logic and what we think will enable us to stand strong in this fight—is a recipe for setback. Using God’s equipment is the only way forward as we encounter the Enemy who comes at us in times of evil with multiple strategies.
“Father, we rejoice that you provide the armor that is needed for resisting the Enemy and standing firm! We give you freedom to work in our lives to root out any pride in us which leads us to think that we personally have the resources within ourselves to be successful. No, Lord, we acknowledge that any resources that we are able to appropriate are ones that come from you! Your armor is powerful! We are dependent on you, and grateful for your provision! Without it, we won’t make it!”
Freddy Boswell 