October 21, 2024
God has given His followers invisible but crucial armor for our daily fight against spiritual forces of evil. Each article is described in Ephesians 6:10-17. Oh, you don’t HAVE to wear it. No one will force you. But when facing the enemy head on, you’ll wish you had every single piece in place.
As I watched my beloved clearing snow from our neighbors’ driveways last week, I realized my heart and mind were racing. My brain was spinning with terrible possibilities. Though he was using a snowblower, I thought of people who’ve had heart attacks from shoveling snow. Before I knew it, I had tears in my eyes thinking of funeral arrangements.
I’m not typically a worrier. (My mother’s influence.) I know God is not only my Father, but my Provider and Friend. Nothing will ever happen that He can’t get me through.
While I rushed out in the snow to help, wearing gloves, scarf, and coat, I left my helmet of salvation behind and allowed the devil to get in my head. Quoting Scripture replaced scary thoughts that had been playing on ‘Repeat”: “When I am afraid, I will trust in You,” Psalm 56:3.
I want to blame COVID for making me fearful. After all…we were locked in our homes, businesses shut down, hands were scrubbed as never before, everything was sprayed and disinfected, masks prevented coughing, sneezing, or breathing germs anywhere on anyone, and we isolated ourselves from those we cared about. I talk to countless people these days who have a spirit of fear or troubled minds. The pandemic has definitely made a negative impact, but I chalk this up to satan, the father of lies (John 8:44).
Overthinking and worrying are tools he is using more than ever before. And he never rests. If he can undermine our confidence in Christ, he will keep us in a fretful state of mind. Stress can have an enormous effect on the human body.
I’m so over COVID and I’m tired of overthinking. Isaiah 26:3 reminds me, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.”
What’s a good plan for the battle of the mind?
When Jesus was tempted in the desert by satan, He fired back each time with Scripture. If it was good enough for the Son of God, it’s good enough for you and me. In our daily armor, we have the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We can carry it, post it, and speak it. (That’s what I’m doing.)
Remember that God is in control. We do not pray to a skinny god who is tired from all of our problems or surprised when crisis comes. When we pray, we are talking to the Creator of the Universe who loves us beyond measure.
Say “Stop!” to the lies the devil is trying to implant in your brain. Go ahead, say it out loud.
In Priscilla Shirer’s The Armor of God, she wrote about our enemy the devil, “He wants to terrorize you until you’re rendered incapacitated.”
Outside, I had a shovel in my hand but where was my shield of faith? I needed to hold it high to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16). Frozen in place, but not because of the snow, my brain had been stuck in worry mode. Lesson learned!
Later, my beloved asked if I was out there to help or to keep an eye on him. No comment.
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Dawn Reed is a pastor's wife and newspaper columnist. Reach her at preacherwife7@yahoo.com.
