Be Strong in the Lord

Most mornings start with a battle you can't see. The alarm goes off, and before your feet hit the floor your mind is already running. The bills. The diagnosis. The kid who didn't come home until two. The meeting you dread. You pour the coffee and brace yourself, and you think the fight is against all of that. Paul says look again.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” Notice where the strength comes from. Paul does not just say be strong. He says be strong in the Lord. The command is not to dig deeper into yourself. It is to draw from Someone else. The strength you need this morning is not stored in your personality, your grit, or your second cup of coffee. It is in His mighty power, the same power, Paul said earlier in this letter, that God exerted when He raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20).

Then he tells you what to wear. “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil's schemes.” Paul wrote this letter as a prisoner. A few verses later he calls himself an ambassador in chains, and Acts tells us that in Rome he was kept with a soldier to guard him. Many scholars think the gear of those soldiers helped shape this picture, though the language also echoes Isaiah, where the Lord Himself puts on righteousness like a breastplate and the helmet of salvation (Isaiah 59:17). Either way, the point is clear. This is God's armor. He supplies it. You put it on.

Look at the word schemes. The enemy is not mostly loud. He is clever. He rarely shows up with horns and a pitchfork. He shows up as a thought that sounds reasonable. You don't really need to pray today. That person deserves your bitterness. God has forgotten you. Nobody will ever know. A scheme is a plan, and the devil has one for your marriage, your mind, and your mouth. You have to know that before you can stand against it.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” That one sentence will change how you handle the coworker who undercuts you and the relative who knows exactly which button to push. People are not your enemy. They may be wrong. They may even be used by the enemy. But they are not the enemy. Your fight is against the spiritual forces of evil. So you can stop trying to beat people and start praying for them.

Now count how many times Paul says stand. Make your stand. Stand your ground. Having done everything, to stand. Then in verse 14, stand firm. In this passage he is not calling you to charge into enemy territory. He is calling you to hold ground that Christ has already won. Jesus went to the cross, bore our sin, and rose again. Colossians says that by the cross He disarmed the powers and authorities and triumphed over them (Colossians 2:15). Your job is not to win the war. Your job is to not give up the ground.

“The day of evil” will come. Paul does not say if. Some day soon the phone will ring with news you didn't want, or temptation will come at you on a tired Tuesday night. The armor is not something you scramble for in that moment. You put it on now, in the quiet, before the day starts. That is what this series is about. Ten mornings, one piece at a time, learning to stand firm and to run with endurance.

So before you check the news or your email, stop. Tell the Lord you are not strong enough for today. That is not weakness talking. That is the truth, and it is the doorway to His strength. A soldier who thinks he can fight in his own skin is the first to fall. A soldier who knows he needs armor gets dressed. Then get up, put on what God has given you, and stand.