All dressed up, no place to go

There is a story that I’m afraid is altogether true in many cases across this country and for way too many families. The story is told of a little girl waiting on her father to come and pick her up. She packed her little bag and waited at the door, watching the street for his arrival. She eventually moved from the door to the front porch where she cautiously played with one eye on the street and the other on her toys, careful not to get her clothes dirty for she wanted to look pretty for her daddy-daughter date. After what seemed to be an eternity, she sat on the front porch swing until she fell asleep and was carried to bed, backpack and all. Her father never showed that evening whether it be a misunderstanding, a confusion in scheduling, an accident, or simply neglect. Whatever the reason, the little girl was clothed and prepared for her date. When I hear this story, I am reminded that so many of us today are never really dressed or prepared for the appointed time. We find ourselves partially dressed or even fully dressed, but what then? Are we all dressed up with no place to go?

We have taken a deeper look into the full armor of God in the book of Ephesians lately, but we need to remember to wear the armor is not always knowledge of how to adequately use it in battle. Paul gives six distinct aspects of armor and what their individual functions are. As that relates to our battles today, Paul is saying if you expect to win (even with the armor on), then there are a few things you must keep in mind. Put all six on as the same covering. Even when you don’t feel like you can stand another second, find strength in your armor and keep moving forward. The armor was never designed to lose or fail and the enemy won’t stop firing at you so you have to be in constant readiness.

The spiritual armor is truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the word of God. Paul ends the armor discourse with verse 18 where he gives the battle plan for success concerning the armor. He says to wrap yourselves in the truth of God, his righteousness and peace, and have faith in him. Stand in salvation, and never stop moving forward in the word. In verse 18, Paul gives six battle plans to match the six pieces of armor. He instructs the warrior to pray at all times - pray in the spirit, pray in supplication or humbleness, keep alert, keep moving forward with perseverance, and make supplication for the saints, or, in other words, never leave a soldier behind.

I would like to circle back with a challenge to you concerning the very first piece of armor mentioned and that is truth. I see it on so many levels today and have to search myself on a regular basis concerning the truth of who I am in the Lord. Paul mentions this piece of armor first, in my opinion, for a reason, and that is because if we can’t see ourselves through the lens of God’s truth, then we will never be able to stand in battle let alone win. Some look in that mirror with arrogance, therefore ignoring the truth of their own inadequacies. Some see themselves as beaten and downcast. Others may see a reflection of who they could be yet quickly see the vulnerable child still trying to seek approval. We must peer into that truth and see that there are two individuals that will always be looking back: the one that distorts the truth and lives a lie or the one embracing the truth and is living in freedom because how we come out of the gate determines our attitude concerning the fight. I, for one, have looked into that reflection more times than I can count and could only see a defeated kid expecting the next defeat but ignored the warrior staring back. The more we chose to view ourselves through the view of God’s truth, the greater the warrior we will see. Everything else in that mirror is powerless to stand against the enemy. It all starts with truth. Realize who you are and who you are not because battles will fall apart around us if we miss this part.

We live in a society of comparison with Hollywood, social media, and every other electronic platform confusing who we are meant to be. We were designed by God to stand out. We’re confused as to who we really are inside because we’ve allowed too many voices to distort the truth. Take a look into your closest mirror, and if you see anything less than a warrior for Christ, then come see me, and let’s seek the truth. You’ll find us online and always in person on the square, in Sparta. We will be there this Sunday at 9 a.m. and also at 11 a.m. We’re real people, living real lives, serving a real God.  Welcome home.