Dodging the Devil’s Darts

Dodging the Devil’s Darts…

Ephesians 6:14 commands believers to put on the breastplate of righteousness. While the entire sixth chapter of Ephesians has important instructions for believers, this verse had a tremendous impact on me. One night, around 2:00 in the morning, I woke up, and I just could not go back to sleep. I had done something that I shouldn’t have, and for days I tried to rationalize it away. However, my spirit was not able to rest because I had grieved the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 6:13 says, “Put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.” The writer goes on to describe that armor. The breastplate of righteousness is one piece of that armor.  Let me explain what happens. Our enemy will come against us with attacks. Often, that attack is in the form of an accusation (Revelation 12:10).  When we live clean, righteous lives, the enemy’s accusations cannot penetrate. In other words, Satan’s evil darts will not hit their target, i.e., us (Ephesians 6:16).

On the other hand, when we haven’t put on the breastplate of righteousness (living a righteous life), his darts often land right in our chest because his accusations are correct. For example, if we have lied, and Satan calls us a liar, those darts will wound our spirit. As the lie festers and grows, we fear someone finding out that we lied, damaging our reputation, and on it goes. Satan can throw all kinds of wounding darts after we sin: the first dart is the penetrating dart of accusation, then comes darts of fear, anxiety, shame, and so on.

Scripture tells us that attacks from Satan are coming and warns us to be ready to resist him in the time of evil. But it is difficult to resist him and his onslaught of accusations when we are guilty. So, God gives us the antidote—live righteous lives. If we live righteously, when the enemy comes with his accusations, we can stand our ground. We can fight him with the words of scripture because we are not convicted within ourselves. When we are guilty because we have not lived a righteous life, we struggle to stand our ground because we know that we have grieved our helper, the Holy Spirit.

So, what now? What do we do? Repent and pray for God’s forgiveness. Go to God with a sincere heart and ask for his forgiveness. Be Godly sorrowful for grieving the Holy Spirit and earnestly pray to be given another chance. Then as we hear the Holy Spirit speak, do what he says. Do not continue in sin. Turn to God. He is the only way out!

Friends, God loves us and wants us to live peaceful lives. We have a part to play in this. We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit and live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. When we do, we can stand our ground and fight the enemy of our soul with the Word of God and know that God has our back.

For God’s Glory,

Tahnee