Stand Your Ground

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  (Ephesians 6:12-13)

Standing your ground includes mental, physical, and strategic self-preparedness for battle.  I was thinking about how it’s easier to prepare for an enemy you can see than for an invisible enemy.  Interestingly, when the enemy is invisible it is more necessary to stand our ground.  Firing randomly, shooting from the hip out of panic or fear is unlikely to help us to see the battle in the heavenly realms.

Do you remember the famous order “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes”?  It is often attributed to the battle of Bunker Hill although it was apparently a somewhat common order in the 1700s to keep the combatants from wasting their limited ammunition by panicked shooting before it might accomplish any possible pushing back the enemy.

When we cannot see our enemy, all firing on our part is shooting in the dark.  So what does God tell us to do?  Put on the full armor of God, prepare, do what we can, and then stand.  It is good advice for us, especially since the spiritual battle is His to fight.