The Stance
“So take up every piece of war equipment God provides, so that when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist; and when the battle is won, you will still be standing.”
— Ephesians 6:16, NLT
The evil day comes to every believer’s life. We know this to be true because Scripture tells us that Satan is the god of this world. Before we accepted Jesus Christ, we were all blinded by him. Anyone who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior is still ruled by Satan.
One day, I was sitting outside quietly, listening for God to speak to my heart. I wanted to have a deep conversation with Him. But instead, what I heard Him say was, “Go and spray your garden right now.”
The previous day, my son and I had planted our winter vegetables. As I got up to spray, I wondered, What does this have to do with what I’m supposed to learn today?
As soon as I started spraying the garden, God began to speak:
“You are doing preventative maintenance. You are protecting your garden from attack. You know the attack will come, so why wait for signs that it’s already here? You know the enemy will attack—so protect them now. Build up their defenses so they are able to stand when the attack comes.”
In the passage above, Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, instructing believers to prepare for the evil days. He tells them that those days are coming and that they need to be ready. When you are prepared, you can resist the evil one and still be standing when the battle is won.
Did you notice that Paul said “when the battle is won”—not if? That means there is a guarantee of victory. We just need to prepare ourselves so we are standing with YHWH when the battle is over.
Paul reminds us to use all the armor and weaponry that God provides so that we are able to stand. I looked up the word stand to understand exactly what Paul meant. It means “to cause or make to stand, to place, put, or set; to make firm, fix, establish.” God gives us exactly what we need to stand firm in faith during spiritual warfare. Remember, every attack we face is a spiritual one—even if we experience it in the flesh. We are fighting against principalities and powers, not people.
When Scripture tells us to stand, it’s referring to what we are standing in to combat the enemy. My plants are standing in the preventative solution I sprayed on them. Likewise, we stand in the power of God, knowing that He is our Deliverer. We stand trusting and believing God’s Word—that no matter what weapon is formed against us, it will not prosper.
The weapons will form, and the attacks will come, but we must stand on the promises of God. We will all face trouble, but when we stand in faith and in the power of God, He will provide everything we need to make it through the battle.
Key Takeaways
We are in a war, and we are called to stand.
We stand in faith, knowing we can only see one part of the battlefield.
We stand knowing that God has the panoramic view—and He fights our battles.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19; Isaiah 55:11
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