Putting on Your Armor
Image of lyric video clip for “E6” by Evvie McKinney
This season I’m having the best time leading a bible study for the women’s ministry at my church. We’re studying The Armor of God by Priscilla Shirer, who is my all-time favorite bible teacher, so this entire experience is such a blessing to me. And this week had me reflecting on the armor of God and Ephesians 6 *for sure.* It had been a long week of kids’ activities, special clinics, cross country meets, football games…and we were trying to make it to our very first small group meetup on Saturday night.
Protecting the small group at all cost!
This small group had been orchestrated by our church. We’d had pre-meetings to establish this actual meeting, we’d defined location, hosts and roles for the meeting. We’d aligned schedules for 5 separate families with multiple children in each. It was a big deal! But by the time we got to 5pm that Saturday, my family was dragging.
The kids asked to skip it, my husband draped himself on couch in the living room for a late afternoon naps. My son started a virtual video game party with his uncles. My daughter wanted to start baking something. It was all so frustrating as the mom trying to keep plans in motion to have every family member working against me!
To top it all off, just as I was waking my napping husband and plating up a charcuterie for the small group, my father pulled into the driveway. That’s right, my father—all the way from New York. He had driven 6 hours to our home and arrived exactly when we were supposed to be leaving, all while my spouse and children were actively wrestling me to the car. We’re always excited to see my dad, and this was no exception. It was simply the craziest timing and I’ll never forget the sense that absolutely everything was working against us getting to that small group!
Where have you found yourself needing God’s armor this week?
Through the course of that evening I envisioned each derailer as a “flaming arrow” trying to keep us away from small group. Have you ever experienced that level of combat? It’s so challenging! Arrow after arrow, I kept picturing each part of my armor, combatting and extinguishing those flames. Imagining every small step as combatting the devil, rather than focusing on my family’s resistance. It would’ve been much easier to reprimand my husband and kids, or to start a fight over who was making us “the most late” for our plans. Instead, I tried to remind myself of what I’d been studying in Armor of God. I focused on praying for steadfastness and patience, asking the Lord to make our plans possible, telling the devil to kick rocks…because that’s truly where the fight was. And guess what, folks? We made it to that small group meetup, praise the Lord! My dad even tagged along.
The power of music
Another thing that helped me through that evening was a playlist of encouraging, uplifting worship music. In particular, I kept one song on repeat, “E6” by Evvie McKinney, which seemed to put words to all of my efforts! Later that same week, my pastor preached a Sunday sermon about the power of music to worship, to profess what we believe, and to keep our hearts anchored in God’s promises. The sermon was associated with our study of Exodus, and Miriam’s worship of the Lord after He parted the Red Sea. The same way Miriam played instruments and sang her praise, we spent an entire Sunday service worshiping through music. Do you have go-to soundtrack for your busier or overwhelming moments? How about for days where you need a little extra motivation to get going?
Have you ever studied The Armor of God or read Ephesians 6? What’s the most compelling piece of armor in your life right now?