Journal Entry ~ 02/03/18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. - Ephesians 6:10-11

You really are vulnerable to the schemes of the devil. If you’re a strong-minded person like myself, who isn’t easily fooled, you may have a tendency to think you can outwit the devil by guarding yourself in your own power. You can’t. The enemy is seductive and deceptive, and he will sneak into the most unlikely places in your life. He knows where you are weak, and he will hit you when you’re down. Don’t underestimate his drive to keep you from resting in the strength of the Lord. 

The question we often wrestle with as we face this truth is where is God in all this? If the devil is prowling around seeking to devour us, why isn’t God protecting us from him?  Sometimes when we’re in a challenging season in our life, we may wonder if God is really there with us. We may think He is a cruel God for allowing such difficulties or heartache to enter our lives. How could a loving God let this to happen?  

What we fail to realize in these heartbreaking moments is that God allows those specific trials for our good, He allows our weakness to be exposed to the enemy for a purpose. God wants us to understand we are weak without Him, and to protect us from our own foolishness. He wants us to value the strength that only He can give. God is more concerned with our eternal salvation than He is with our momentary happiness, so He will allows us to enter difficult trials to reveal where we are weak. He doesn’t allow those weaknesses to be exposed because He is a cruel God.  They don’t happen because He doesn’t want you to be happy, or because He doesn’t love you. Those trials are not an indication that He doesn’t keep His promises or that He isn’t sovereign. They happen because He wants you to understand you need Him, He wants to protect you from the arrogance of self-reliance. Those trials remind us we cannot do this in our own power, and they cause us to run humbly to the only One who can help us. You see, when you think you are strong, you stop looking to God for His rescuing grace. 

As dark as all that may sound, you can trust that our God has given us everything we need to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. By grace, we have been prepared for the battle. He walks into every challenging situation - from the rude person in traffic to the phone call we never want to receive - and He offers a way out. The question is never is He there with us, the question is only are we willing to access the full armor of God?


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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