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And each day as I go to work in prep for another day of battle I slip on my winter coat when Georgia decides to bring a gust of cold. In my warm pocket my fingers feel a bumpy circle the size of a dime and I'm reminded to pray. See, years ago, our biological son was into all things cowboy. Those memories are so precious as I picture him running around in his undies, cowboy hat or boots, and cap gun. One winter I found an unused ring of caps from his arsenal in my winter jacket pocket, and there since it has stayed serving as a constant reminder to pray over him and our foster son. I know they love doing all things 'boy'; and I love their fun and wild spirits. My husband and I also know as their parents the Lord has entrusted them to us and we must claim authority over their lives as their spiritual mentors and pray they acquire every spiritual weapon needed for life's battles.
God speaks to His own in many ways, sometimes in a strong gust and other times in a quiet place as you walk closely with Him. We usually want the obvious clear answers that knock us down, don't we? I know I walk more confidently in His direction when I get those type answers, but then we wouldn't have reason to get still and close to Him.
I was just reminded three times this week how God is ever-present, consistently by our side urging us to join Him. He may be fighting the spiritual battle for us or allowing us to be sifted like wheat in order to draw us near to Him – all from his complete picture window. While the Lord is working, we wait, endure, or celebrate from our mini-picture view not knowing what's on the other side.
I can't help but see the correlation God has been showing me this week that in every battle we have spiritual weapons which are greater than whatever we can prepare our storehouses with on this earth. You may or may not be familiar with some of them – prayer, truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, and the Spirit (See Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18). However, I learned of a new spiritual weapon this week while reading, "Praying God's Word" by Beth Moore and also during church worship this week on this very same topic (Listen to "Battle to Believe" free podcast here). Think God is trying to teach me something? The weapon of peace – our offensive weapon against the kingdom of darkness. Sometimes I choose to cling to these spiritual weapons daily, but I'm a planner and it seems more natural in my humanness to slip in allowing the enemy to keep peace and other promises from the Lord from me as I attempt to prep for the unknown future from my limited perspective.
Let this settle into your soul:
"In the battles of life, your peace is actually a weapon. Indeed, your confidence declares that you are not falling for the lies of the devil. You see, the first step toward having spiritual authority over the adversary is having peace in spite of our circumstances. When Jesus confronted the devil, He did not confront Satan with His emotions or in fear. Knowing that the devil was a ilar, He simply refused to be influenced by any other voice than God's. His peace overwhelmed Satan. His authority then shattered the lie, which sent demons fleeing."
Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds quoted from the book by Beth Moore Praying God's Word
So, while we choose to prepare for this life's failings with physical storehouses, I choose to listen to God's constant nudging to choose His peace as my better weapon.
