by Scott H. Northrup
Given the challenges we are facing today, how many of us could use more strength? All of us, no doubt! Paul the apostle tells us at the end of his Ephesian letter to "Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might." God is infinitely capable and willing to supply us the strength we need to face each day. Paul goes on to tell us how to be strong in the Lord's strength. It is by putting on the whole armor of God.
The foundation garment of God's armor is truth. There is an uncanny strength that comes from walking in the truth, being a person of the truth. I'm not talking about how many Bible verses you know. I'm talking about practicing truth in the everyday affairs of life. Psalm 15 tells us that the person who walks with integrity and practices truth can abide on God's holy mountain and enjoy the strength of His supernatural presence and power. It ends by saying that such a man will never be shaken. In other words, he'll never lose his composure, never succumb to fear. Oh, glory hallelujah, what a life!
The person of God is to have his heart protected by wearing the covering of God's righteousness. Too many Christians are moping around wearing the devil's overcoat. It doesn't even fit a believer. It's sleeves are too long, and it is patchy and full of holes. And when one wearing it comes walking down the street every little demon says, "Hey, would you look at that. Let's all get together at his house tonight and have some fun." What am I talking about? I'm talking about the Christian who hasn't discovered that he has right standing with God in Christ Jesus as a free gift, apart from human performance. He hasn't discovered that he is a son of God and ought to outfit himself and think of himself that way for a change, and get rid of that "poor ol' me" mentality. There is a supernatural strength in knowing that, under the blood of Jesus, you are a son of the living God and that everywhere you walk, God walks with you. You are the reproduced life of Jesus on the earth today. So shuck off that old overcoat and put on the breastplate of His righteousness. He became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Glory to God!
And now comes the peace of God. That is what inner strength is all about - maintaining your peace in the middle of the maelstrom. God has provided that peace to the believer. Jesus said, "Peace I leave you, my peace I give you." So why do I find so few Christians living in that peace, including me a good portion of the time. One simple reason. To experience His peace, you must walk in His will. Putting on the shoes of the gospel of peace is simply to walk out the calling of God for your life. I'll prove it to you from scripture. In Judges 6, Gideon is hiding out in a wine press to avoid the Midianites. God comes on the scene and calls him a "mighty man of valor." God is strange that way, calling us who He wants us to become, not the simpering coward that we are. The Lord goes on to call Gideon to lead Israel against the Midianites, and ends by saying, "Go in THIS your strength." What strength? The strength of "Go." The strength that comes from stepping out on what God has called you to do. There is a power in "Go ye" when it is obeyed.
God called my wife and me to travel alone to southeast Asia to provide support to our missionary friends there. I knew as I departed that we were in over our heads. How much more delightful to be spending the weeks instead at the beach in Florida. But you know, we could have done that, but the peace would not have followed us there. We would have been miserable on that beach, sipping our lemonade, doing our "beach ministry." How many people are casting about trying to find peace and all the time avoiding simply going where God has called them to go. That is where you'll find the strength of the Lord. Sorry to tell you, but He doesn't give believers the power of His full armor so they can watch their TV sitcoms in greater comfort. So go for it.
@ copyright 2005 by Scott H. Northrup. All rights reserved.