Based on a story in Linda’s Life
The rumble of dozens of motorcycles were felt before they were heard. We were on a weekend getaway in the early years of marriage. To fit this trip into our tight budget, we made our reservation site unseen at a low budget motel near Stone Mountain, Georgia.
The rumble grew to a roar, then to a stop as the rowdy motorcycle riders filled the parking lot of our hotel. I know that there are a lot of wonderful people that ride motorcycles as some of them are my close friends. Let’s just say that it did not look like this group of riders would be getting up for church on Sunday morning.
One thought consumed us, “What do we do?”
“…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.”
We hoped they did not notice how out of place we felt. We were hoping our weekend getaway did not turn into a police report.
“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.”
Should we stay? Should we go? We had already paid for our room and did not really have the funds to stay anywhere else. Would they hurt us? Were they harmless? What if they got rowdy as they partied?
“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…”
Yes, this event definably increased our prayer life! What if we had to leave quickly for our own safety? How should we prepare for that?
All of the pieces of the armor of God were given to us at the moment we surrendered our hearts and lives to follow Christ. Look again at this gift package that we get from the armor: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. What incredible gifts! If we leave out any of these gifts, we are not fully armed. Can you imagine living without anyone of them? Makes us wonder why we loosen our belt, lay down our shield, kick off our shoes, unsnap the chin strap of our helmet and put down our sword. God is encouraging us to now put it ALL on and stand firm!
The noise outside our hotel continued late into the night. It was hard to relax. As we started to change into our night clothes, we looked at each other. Maybe we should lay out our clothes as close to us as possible in the event we needed to leave quickly. Was that enough?
God has given us amazing armor. But then our lives get busy and our armor slips. First, our time in his word (sword) gets laid aside. Chink-ka-chink. Then, our shield (faith) gets heavy. Plunk-zing. Then our head gets filled with doubts and we shake our helmet lose. Clang. Peace seems to leave and we notice our shoelaces are untied. Ssssspppp. Sssspppp. We are carrying more weight then we should so we loosen our belt (truth) and truth becomes relative. Click click click. We do not feel righteous (breastplate) anymore because we are looking at ourselves instead of the righteousness of Christ in us. Ding-ding-ding. The enemy finds holes in our armor. Something is wrong, so very, very wrong as the enemy begins to attack relentlessly. We need our armor back on! Where is it, Lord?
No, it would not be enough. To really be ready to escape out of that hotel in case of true danger, we needed to sleep fully prepared. No thief in the night or drunk and rowdy biker gang was going to stand by patiently while we changed clothes. No. We needed to be fully dressed.
Fully dressed with the full armor of God. No dust anywhere, but everything oiled and polished, ready to go. Standing firm. Each piece so vitally important to the whole, for if any one piece is loose or missing, there is an opening for the enemy.
That night our sleep was light and our senses heightened for any danger. We had to be wise with everything we did. We slept fully dressed, scripture on our minds and prayers on our lips.
We have all had holes in our armor at times. The Word of God, prayer, and help from other armor bearers are ways to plug the holes. Then, we will regain our strength, as we make sure our belt is tight, our shoes are tied, our breastplate is in place, our helmet secure, with our shield and sword in our hands. Once again, we are standing firm.
We awoke much earlier than the motorcycle party gang to discover that all was fine. We breathed a sigh of thankfulness.
“To proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night...” Psalm 92:2
Note: All unmarked Scripture quotes are from Ephesians 6.
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