The Armor that is Jesus

I've been reading a lot of different things - Exodus, Ephesians, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I've taken pages of notes and I know there is a connection. I put off writing until I find the big connection, the big answer. I put off writing because I can't put it into words. God, what are you teaching me?? Because I know this is important! This is life changing, soul surviving, Gospel living important!

It is a difficult, but amazing perspective to see life through the lens of gift. Every moment is wrapped in a gift because every moment is God. And our part is the choice in how to respond to each moment. We can refuse, reject, respond miserably, or get down in gratitude and find the joy.

Every moment, we choose. Every single moment.

To remember we've got our armor, the armor of Ephesians that is Jesus Christ.

To remember we are loved infinitely and passionately by this wonderful, holy, righteous God and that this God wants to fight for us.

I read in Exodus this past week, this endless cycle of the Lord saying to Moses, Moses going to Pharaoh, Pharaoh saying no, hardening his heart, asking for relief but not submitting to God, and then plagues and plagues of devastation. We come to know Moses, this great leader and man of God, as a man who killed and fled, who literally said to God 'Please Lord, send someone else.' I can't speak and I am not eloquent of tongue, Moses says. There must be someone better!

But what strikes me about what happens in the following narrative is how many times the Lord says to him, 'Go in to Pharaoh. Present yourself before him. Go in to him. Stand.'

Stand.

Stand.

Stand.

Enter those courts and declare from your mouth what you have heard from the Lord.

I will be with you.

The armor of God that Paul writes about in Ephesians 6 has striking similarities. Interwoven between descriptions of breastplates and helmets and shoes, it says to stand. Stand firm. Stand your ground. And never stop praying.

Stand, because God is with you.

To read page after page, verse after verse of this astounding God in Exodus is almost breathtaking. He pursues a relationship with the Israelites, the enslaved people, and He desires for His person and His power to be known. He wants to fight for them. As the Israelites are crossing the Red Sea, the Egyptians say "Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians."

And then that Song of Moses gets lifted to the Lord and it is truly praiseworthy.

These words and this fight strike me to the core because I've been on a mission. Since the beginning of January, I have worked to be more disciplined. I've made schedules and lists and goals because I see that as my version of being proactive and fighting. And it felt good because I was choosing all these things and I was making them happen. Go me! I've got my armor!

And then I spoke to friends who said the armor of God really is Jesus. It is truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God. And then I read Exodus 14:14.

Brakes, to the ground, screeching halt.

And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."

I think of all the ways I want to fight lies and all the ways I want to grab pitchforks and torches and I'm confused by the 'be silent' part. When I'm running ahead at a million miles an hour and I'm gathering supplies and commanding strategies - I don't get the 'be still' ask. There's something about it that really trips me up. I try to get around it and think 'I'll fight with my actions.' But God says 'stop. I've got you. I want you. Let me fight for you. I love you FIERCELY.'

And maybe the silent part of Exodus 14:14 doesn't mean inaction. It means stand firm, child, because you have Jesus.

My lists, they aren't bad. My goals of self-discipline, are good things. They are choice and gratitude and an honoring of gifts. But they are not my armor and they do not fight for me. I don't have to add Jesus + one. Because there is a God who so graciously provides, even when I am Israelite-ish and complain and say I'd rather be in slavery and I'm dying of thirst, He still brings daily manna from the sky.

What a change in perspective.

My favorite commercials are the ones for Florida Orange Juice. Seated around a kitchen table, there's someone pouring a glass of orange juice while everyone else around the table is telling OJ-drinking person what their day is going to look like. Flat tire, hard drive erased, disrespectful children, late for work. And the person with the orange juice responds every time with 'excellent! perfect! bring it on! good thing I have my orange juice!'

And I imagine that's what our responses are when we start our day not with orange juice, but with the Word of God, when we root ourselves in the knowledge that we are armed with Jesus. We say 'bring it on' to the hard stuff because we know Jesus sustains us.

In this season of waiting I find myself in, the Lord says do not fear, be still, stand firm, do not cease to pray, I am with you. Do not be so quick to 'do,' but be quick to listen. The choice to see, honor, worship, choose Jesus in each moment is the best way to fight.