Today we are taking a look at the armour of God. We all know the scripture in Ephesians but we have maybe never thought about the armour in relation to fear and how we fight it.
Many many years ago when I was first learning to pray with people I would often find myself wanting to place my hand on or over the person's stomach. It seemed to me the natural thing to do, and then I learned that the guts are the seat of emotions and the place where the enemy sometimes stirs up trouble. The stomach is where heart rending sobs seem to come from when God is deeply moving. Jesus talked about that sucker-punch of compassion He felt in His guts when He saw the lost. Deliverance is also often experienced as nausea and sometimes full on vomiting as the enemy is forced to release his hold over peoples emotions. So it is not surprising that one of the pieces of armour God provides for us goes round our middle. Truth girds our loins. Truth covers the seat of our emotions because thats where the lies get in. Fear is a thought process, but it can have effects in our guts. When panic rises, that's where we feel it. We maybe lose our appetite, feel sick, get shaky. Its physical and its real. When we get that feeling in our guts we know we need Truth. Sometimes its helpful to get someone else to speak Truth to us - especially if we are feeling paralysed by fear. Read Truth, sing Truth, listen to Truth. Whatever is noble and pure and holy dwell on those things. Stop doom scrolling.
Fasting is also another 'gut related' weapon in our armoury. As is eating healthily. No time to go into either of these here, but you can do your own research if you are interested.
The other place in our body that physically responds to fear is our breathing. Panic attacks often feel like heart attacks. Heart palpitations, shallow short breaths, a feeling that we cant get enough oxygen into our lungs. Again, real physical symptoms which are triggered by the lies that fear speak to us. Our hearts are covered by God's righteousness. In and of ourselves there is no good thing. But because of Jesus we are now clothed in righteousness. And fear cannot abide in the presence of the righteousness of Jesus.
The battlefield is in the mind. Fear enters primarily in our thinking. Through things we hear, see, experience and believe. As we have already examined, God has put us in charge of our thinking enabling us to take our thoughts captive and arrest any that dont line up with the will of God. Salvation is depicted as a helmet because it guards our minds against the lies of the enemy. The truth to which we hold is that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. That we are ransomed, healed, restored,, forgiven. When we feel fear lurking, lying, calling out to us we hold firm to the truth that I am His and He is mine. I am paid for with the blood of Jesus and I am eternally saved. Hallelujah!
And if that weren't enough we also have faith which covers us head to toe and extinguishes the fiery darts of the evil one. Our faith consists of all the things we have seen God do in our lives, all the things we know to be true about Him, every prayer He has answered, every moment we have been aware of His presence. Like the psalmists we need to constantly remind ourselves of God's faithfulness to us. The more our minds are full of the Truth of who He is and what He has done, the less space there is for fear and lies.
God wants us to stand in peace. Fear is the opposite of peace. Fear is troubled and shaky and doubtful and insecure. God gives us peace. It is one of the most precious gifts He gives. It is worth way more than any of the 'spiritual gifts' . His peace rules in our hearts helping to guide us into His paths. Its hard to know peace when we are full of fear. Why is peace found in our feet? Because fear makes us run. Peace gives us strength to stand. We know that fear's default mechanism is to make us run away and hide. In order to stand in the light we need the peace of God which passes all understanding. Jesus has left us His peace, we already have access to it. If we aren't standing in it then all we need to do is get before Jesus and ask Him for it. He cant say no because His peace is already in our account. We just need to draw it down and start spending it.
And finally theres an assault weapon we can actively use against fear. And its the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. When we feel fear crouching at the door we need to speak scripture to the fear. Out loud. There is much power in the spoken word - even psychology recognises that speaking things out loud re-wires our brains and that what we repeatedly speak becomes truth to us. The Word of God is living and active and when we speak it out it acts decisively to fulfil its purpose and wont cease on its mission until it has done so. (Is 55:11)
''Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.'' Eph 6 13-18 The Message
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