Still Water Moments: The Armor of God - The Belt of Truth
Ephesians 6: 10-14 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…
In our focus scripture, Paul makes it clear that we will encounter spiritual warfare. He specifically states that we will face “the devil’s schemes”, “rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world”, “spiritual forces of evil”, and “the day of evil”. While the thought of these entities may initially be scary and intimidating, we know that: 1) God is more powerful than ALL of them. 2) Since we are walking with God, we already have the victory; therefore, 3) God doesn’t set us up to fail. We certainly cannot handle these evil works of the enemy in our own strength, but God, being the omnipotent, ever-resourceful God that He is, has provided us with the necessary tools to combat them all; therefore, we don’t need to cower in their presence.
The very beginning of the scripture tells us to “be strong”, which implies the alternative is to be weak. Weak would be not acknowledging evil forces exist, or worse, knowing they exist but not doing anything about it. That is like physically fighting someone and standing still, allowing your opponent to pummel you, and certainly you wouldn’t allow that! We need to be more aware and prepared to defend ourselves against evil, as those forces are more detrimental than a person; in fact, they can control people and lead them to commit evil acts. This is one reason why the scripture tells us, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers… authorities… and powers of this dark world…” So, when Paul tells us to be strong, we must remember that our strength comes from the Lord, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” That strength doesn’t just happen; we must call upon the Lord, acknowledge our weaknesses, and tell Him of our need for Him. God is so good that in addition to strength, these prayers and conversations with Him also foster joy as Nehemiah 8:10 tells us, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” How awesome it is that we can have joy during a battle?
Now, let’s get back to the armor. Paul used the imagery of the armor of the very soldiers that guarded him while he was imprisoned to teach us about the armor of God. The belt of truth is the first piece of armor mentioned. For the Roman soldier, the belt held his tunic in place as well as some of the other pieces of armor thus functioning as a foundation for the suit. For the Christian, the belt of truth doesn’t just keep our armor in place, it keeps us in our proper place. The bible is clear in its stance about a lot of things we face in life. Effective soldiers believe in the cause of their war, hence their willingness to risk their lives for it. We as Christians first come to believe in God’s truth, the foundation for the other pieces of armor.. As that belief grows stronger, we become more effective soldiers, learning the purposes of all the pieces of armor and subsequently utilizing them to the fullest extent God intended us to. In spiritual warfare, this is the ultimate display of believing in our cause, God’s truth.
Daily we make numerous choices that determine if we are going to walk in our own truth, the world’s truth, or God’s truth. As a Christian, a soldier for Christ, the goal must be to walk in God’s truth. This is not easy in today’s worldly conforming state, hence why Paul says to “Put on the full armor…”. This implies we have to be intentional about behaving as Christ would. Living for Christ makes one stand out in this secular world- that in itself is a fight. We all struggle in at least one area not to look like the world, e.g. refraining from gossip, premarital sex, pride, unforgiveness, etc. The reason we struggle is because the Holy Spirit within us convicts us and calls us to look like the Father. As we love the Father and want to do his will, we put forth the effort to try to improve, hence living out our belief in the truth of what His word says as opposed to what our flesh wants. Crucifying the flesh is not easy, sometimes it’s downright painful. Our daily surrender is an outward showcase that we believe in His ways, that His truth is paramount. Walking lock step with the Lord and in His truth, honoring Him and His word as the only authority, keeps us in right standing with Him. The walk is distinctive, letting the world know what side of the fight we are on.
Reflection: Whose truth do you believe in? Yours, the world’s, or God’s? How do your actions display your belief?
