10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:10-17
Today's devo was inspired by a message that I heard at church. My pastor asked us if we believe in miracles. Well, do you? Do you really believe in miracles, in things that we can't see or explain? Do you believe in the resurrection of Christ? What about the Bible saying that if we believe in Him, we are a new creation? Yup, these truly are miracles.In today's society we have such a distrust of things that we can't see or prove. Goodness, science has come such an incredibly long way that everything has to be explained, right? Technology makes our lives better, right? Easier? And believing in the devil is, well so old-fashion and the devil has nothing to do with our world anymore because advances in science have made our lives so comfortable.
But this passage tells us that there are evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm just like there is evil battling right here on earth. The passage also says that our battles are not against the flesh and blood but against the devil's schemes.
Psalm 91 also tells us that evil exists and that spiritual evil is real. While the passage above tells us how to protect ourselves with the armor of God, I want you to consider my original question. Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe that if God wanted to, He could defy all laws of nature (that we have defined and made sense of with science) and perform a miracle?
I want you to consider that there is an evil battle going on - and in battle the participants are active. God is actively fighting evil. And He WILL win. We don't understand why it's not here now, but perhaps because He is waiting for us to fully embrace Him. Perhaps we are the ones not ready?
But, if nothing is impossible for God, perhaps the evil in our lives, our own personal battles are waiting for us to partner up with God for a miracle to happen. Would it be so hard for Him to take away our addiction? Restore broken relationships? I don't think so. And so, I think it's wise for us to pray for that miracle to happen. God is actively working on our behalf and it's OK to ask. And while we are at it, let's pray for us to believe, and for him to take away our unbelief.
