My precious daughter and her equally adorable teammates took softball pictures this spring, and they are the cutest dang pictures I have ever seen. All these 7-8 year-old angels, dolled up and in their uniforms, are just a sight to see!
My VERY favorite picture in the set is their game-on, serious shot, with black smudges under their eyes, and no smiles allowed. Part of the reason I liked that particular picture is that the girls, all the parents, and the photographer worked so very hard to capture it. At least one girl would smile or giggle every time. But when that last photo was taken, they looked like a group who meant business-- gear at the ready and winning on their minds.
Much like these young ladies, we have to get our gear on, and be ready to face the battle with fierce focus.
It's Warrior Wednesday, and, as promised, we are going to look a little closer at Ephesians 6:10-20, the "whole armor of God".
Today let's look at the first part of verse 14-- the BELT.
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist..."(NIV)
Reflecting again on my little ball player, I remember the belt that went to her uniform. Funny, the thing was totally useless. Oh, it was part of the uniform, totally cute, and fine for others, but for my girl, it became more of a burden. Why? It wasn't about truth. She's so tiny but tall, that the only softball pants that came near fitting had elastic in the waistband and no belt loops. That pretty yellow belt became more of a nuisance to her, as she fought to keep it in place the whole game. Last few games, my husband instructed her to lose the belt. He had strong opinions about this needless thing keeping her mind off her game.
Even now, that useless yellow belt makes me think about what a belt is supposed to be and why Paul used it as the symbol for TRUTH. We may have to think back to Paul's time when a belt was not just an accessory to bring an outfit together aesthetically.
Originally, a belt was truly for holding up a person's pants or other bottoms. Think about this: in battle, a soldier can't fight while using one hand to hold up his pants and the other to hold onto his weapon. That's ridiculous! A belt holds up your pants, not only to keep your hands free but also keeping you from being embarrassed by showing your behind, literally.
Likewise a belt is useful to hold onto many tools, a weapon, a canteen, even a cell phone. On stage, playing music, my husband uses his BELT pack to send his guitar signal to an amp so he can move around instead of being tethered by a chord to one spot.
Ok, so how does all this relate to the TRUTH spiritually? Here's my take: The BELT of TRUTH is the actual Word of God in us, on which we hang all that we need. The TRUTH holds up our pants, so to speak, keeping us from being embarrassed. People can argue with the TRUTH, but in the end it's still the TRUTH. It holds up. Wrap it around you. It will make your work easier as it provides a place to keep all you need to survive battle. You can hang a lot on the TRUTH.
But be careful. Don't rely on fake and useless belts. The BELT of TRUTH will not move around and distract you. The TRUTH is the TRUTH. It will not let you down.
Next Warrior Wednesday: the Breastplate of righteousness.
Until next time, Grace and Truth to you from the Red Dirt!
Weapons are not a foreign concept to me. I am in no way offended by guns, ammo, or knives of any kind. I was brought up around all kinds of fire power and mindfully taught about the dangers and seriousness of guns, as well as the usefulness and focused purpose of them.
In the same way I was taught to respect these powerful tools, we teach the children in our family that weapons are useful but require thought, strategy, and skill, just like any other tool.
The weapons of spiritual warfare are no different. We have been given a powerful set of battle gear that can be used to defend us against the Enemy's schemes or to advance in strategic offense against him and his forces. But do we put in the time and practice we need to properly use this gear, and do we teach our children how to use and respect it?
Right now, in my stack of summer reading, is the book Fervent by Priscilla Shirer. If you have seen the movie War Room, you have seen this author. She is the actress who plays the main character in the movie, which portrays a woman whose world is turned around through the power of strategic prayer. War Room is the inspiration for Shirer's book, a study on strategic prayer.
Did you know that PRAYER is one of our most powerful weapons? And did you know it is NOT the only battle gear we possess?
In this world where we live, we will be pushed around by fear, worry, prejudice, and many other ungodly things-- did you catch that? UNgodly. These things are NOT from God. These types of powers in our lives only take our minds off of God and His blessings. The Word of God tells us that we have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, of love, and self-discipline and that instead of letting worry consume us, we should think on whatever is good and holy and pure and true.
So why does fear keep tripping us up? Why do we bathe in worry? That's where I believe we don't take time to skillfully employ the weapons we've been given. Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the full armor of God. We have gear to protect us from head to toe, plus a shield and Sword to go forward into battle, and the encouraging Battle Cry that we are more than conquerors who have already won.
In short, we are warriors. That's why we need training for battle. I invite you to join me for the next few Wednesdays as I study each piece of the battle gear-- the full armor of God.
In the meantime, grace and prayers to you on this Warrior Wednesday.
