John Lynch

Ephesians 6:10-20 (NIV)
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, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Reflection:
The inescapable reality about the world in which we live is that evil exists and persists.  Sin constantly tries to creep into our lives and, in fact, sometimes it just charges in. We see the hand of evil in the brutality of war. We often need to look no further than down the halls of our homes or offices to see profound brokenness. Just outside our front doors we see callous indifference towards our marginalized communities. And then, there is temptation and greed that is lurking about constantly trying to lead us into darkness. 

My typical response to Satan and existence of evil is to try to hide from it. I live a life that I have carefully designed to minimize my exposure to it and delude myself into thinking that, with a few “minor” exceptions, sin and evil do not really impact me that much. My approach is naïve to say the least, and, truth be told, rarely successful. Brutality, brokenness, callousness and greed find a way in; and it is folly to think I can hide from or ignore temptation; it flourishes in the dark. Moreover, hiding from and ignoring evil and Satan’s work abdicates my responsibility as a believer to be a source of light. Yet, hide and ignore I do.

In Ephesians 6, Paul suggests another strategy – a bold approach rooted in the strength of the almighty rather than cowardice. Paul encourages us not to hide but to confront.  He instructs us to put on the armor of God so that we may be able to stand firm against evil and temptation. Paul describes a spiritual battle being waged and says believers are called not to hide, but to stand up against evil and temptation clad in God’s armor.

So, what would that look like? For starters, it means I need to get serious about my armor—to focus on truth and living a life that displays righteousness, to spread the Gospel of peace, to purposely build a faith that can serve as shield, to know the word of God, and finally, to pray more and pray well. With this armor readily available, there is no need to hide.

God does not leave us to face the world’s perils alone but equips us for every good work. I know I want to be a believer that stands firm against evil and temptation, and God’s armor is ready and available for us to wear for just this task. 

Prayer:
Lord, show me how to get out of my hiding place and to put on your armor. Give me the discipline it takes to become the armored believer Paul describes. Then, Lord, give me the confidence to stand firm against temptation and the evils of the world. Amen.