Wise Lord, You are generous and give me wisdom and instruction freely when I come to You. I’m reminded of what King Hezekiah did in the Old Testament when he didn’t know what to do.
“Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: ‘Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. … Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.’”
Hezekiah went straight to You. He laid out his problem, prayed and asked for Your help. That’s not my usual path when I’m confronted with a concern, issue, or trouble. No, I rely on my own instincts, feelings (which, when I think about it, is silly, given how erratic and contradictory they can be) or judgment. I may ask another, who has likely not consulted with You.
These problems, issues, concerns, troubles and challenges … where do they come from? Some may be the result of my or another person’s bad decisions, likely rooted in a sinful desire, arrogance, or ego. Others due to the fact that I live in a broken world where disease, chaos, toil, and pain exist. Then, there’s that unseen world I hear about but don’t fully understand—where the enemy wants me to forget about You and abandon my faith. He wants me to blame You. He wants to distance me from You.
How do I respond? Well, first I go to You. You’ve given me the tools—Your armor. Ephesians 6:10 to 18 lays it out. But I must choose to act. I have to put on the armor of God. I then have to resist the enemy who wants me to act sinfully, to turn my back on You.
That first piece of armor is the belt of truth; the second, the breastplate or body armor of God, which is Your righteousness.
Truth can only be found in You. You authored it when You created humanity, this world and everything that exists. Fundamentally, truth is that You are Lord of all, the source of life, love and goodness. You also reveal it in Your Word and even in Your creation.
When seeking truth, I must always be careful to test it against Your Word, Your character, Your will and Your way.
Your righteousness I gained through Christ. He stands before me and You see me through Jesus—perfect, holy and righteous … how incredibly beautiful and powerful. So, I must run to Jesus and live like He did (to the best of my ability).
How do I become like another person … I spend time with him or her. The more time I spend with You, the more I become like You. So, that is what I must do to get Your body armor.
And, the beautiful thing is … that when I’m with You, I’m fully defended; I’m standing in victory.
In the Truth Giving and Righteous Name of Jesus I pray.
Amen.
