"Finally brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We're not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. And this is why you need to be head-to-toe in the full armor of God: so you can resist during these evil days and be fully prepared to hold your ground. Yes, stand - truth banded around your waist, righteousness as your chest plate, and feet protected in preparation to proclaim the good news of peace. Don't forget to raise the shield of faith above all else, so you will be able to extinguish flaming spears hurled at you from the wicked one. Take also the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:10-17 voice translation)
Have you ever experienced a pain so deep in your life that you couldn't find the words to speak? Or the words to process the grief that you were going through? Maybe you are like me and not only do you not have the words sometimes to process the pain and the grief but you also need a safe space to process your grief where there is no judgement for what you are feeling and where you can let it all out, not holding anything back. I'm here to tell you I have been where you are at. I know the struggle. Grief, especially when it comes to loss is not easy.
Most people will tell you that grief is a process and that is absolutely true. However, they will also tell you that there are no words to describe what you are feeling or words of comfort to help you understand what you are feeling. Sometimes the best medicine when you are processing grief is to give words to the deep feelings that have appeared suddenly. The idea that people have that there are no words to help you process your pain in a safe place is a bold faced lie that the enemy sets up against us. The enemy would like us to believe this so that we end up bottling up our emotions and put the processing of our pain in another outlet that is not of God. When we are told this lie it gives us an excuse to avoid our problems rather then take them to the presence of God. Satan knows that words are so incredibly important to our healing. And the words of healing that are found in God's word, are even more powerful. Not only do they bring healing to our shattered hearts, but his words of truth also help us to wage war against the enemy's schemes.
I love how Paul gives us a visual of how we are to prepare for waging war against the enemy by putting on the armor of God. He says that we need to put on the waistband of truth, chest plate of righteousness and protect our feet in preparation to proclaim the good news of peace. These are the pieces of the armor that help us to stand against the enemies schemes and lies. The next piece of the armor that Paul talks about is the shield of faith which helps us to defend ourselves against all the situations the enemy uses to try to defeat us and make us fall so that we are no longer standing in truth. If he can get us tired enough to let our defenses down, to get us to stop fighting in alignment with the Spirit of God and the words of his truth then he can destroy our healing and shake up our faith. At the end of the verse Paul writes that we should also put on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. The helmet of salvation is important because it protects our minds from the lies of the enemy. The Sword of the Spirit is the weapon that we use to destroy those lies. It is the word of God, the words of truth that we can trust when we are going through the process of grief. Today, I want to focus more on the Sword of the Spirit.
Grief is more than just an emotion or a process that we walk through. It is a battlefield. How do I know this? I am living through it. Every single day I have been standing in this battlefield fighting against the enemy's flaming arrows. The battle the last few months has been intense. Have you been or are going through a battle that is intense? I am talking about so intense that every time you stand up and think you are doing better today in processing your pain with God that there is something else, in my case another feeling of being totally overwhelmed by the piles of circumstances that keep piling up. Yes, the battle has been long, intense and harsh.
But I am still standing.
Somehow, by the grace of God and the truth of his word I am still standing.
And that in and of itself is a testimony.
But my testimony doesn't end there. I want you to know that when people told me that there weren't words to process my pain, that the grief process was different for everyone and there wasn't a road map that I could use to guide my process, that was a lie that the enemy wanted me to believe. When I thought that I was going to be stuck in a place of hopelessness, in a place where I wouldn't have any truth to cling to so that I could heal, that I wouldn't have any words to give me comfort and shift my perspective so that I could process my pain in the truth of God, I cried out to him from the depths of my soul and asked him to help me heal in the comfort and safety of his presence. And you know what? Something amazing has happened since then. He gave me the words! God gave me and is continuing to give me the words of truth that my shattered heart and soul needed to process my pain and heal. The Word of God has been my sword of the Spirit. Today I would like to give you some verses that I have found helpful in processing my pain and healing in the safe space that can be found within the truth of God. I encourage you to pick up your sword of the Spirit with me, pick it up daily, so that we will not be caught off guard when the war gets intense. But rather so that we can stand victoriously together as we overcome the tactics of the enemy by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.
Sword of the Spirit Verses:
Revelation 12:11 - "By the blood of the Lamb and the word of their witnesses, they have become victorious over him, for they did not hold on to their lives, even under threat of death." (Voice Translation)
2 Timothy 1:7 - "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (NKJV)
Psalm 25:5 - "Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." (NIV)
Psalm 42:5 - "Why am I so overwrought? Why am I so disturbed? Why can't I just hope in God? Despite all my emotions, I will believe and praise the One who saves me and is my life."
Dear Lord, I thank you for the words of truth that you have given us that we can use to process our pain in the safety of your presence. Thank you for teaching us how to fight against the lies of the enemy with your words of truth. Please teach us to take up our sword of the Spirit daily so that we can be encouraged and strengthened and are able to continue to stand and be victorious over our situations. In Jesus name, amen.
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