Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand
therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate
of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel
of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance
and supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians
6:14-18)
So, you’ve settled down to whatever you do on a
weekday afternoon. The lights go out. You have your cell phone, but there’s only
a 25% charge. Drat! Why didn’t you charge it last night? Feel free to add
details to this daydream. Include your favorite disaster or one that is likely
where you live. Earthquake? Fire? Chemical contamination? Invasion? Nuke? No
matter which one you choose, your basic options are two: bug out or hunker
down. For a select few, there is also report for duty. Do you know what to do
in any of those cases? Could you pull your act together in under 30 minutes? Do
you have supplies on hand to get you through 3 days either at home or on the
road?
Let’s change the scenario. It’s not that the disaster
from the last paragraph took place. It’s that you find yourself in a spiritual
battle. It might be a temptation, an emotional crisis, a tense discussion, a major
circumstantial setback. To make things worse, it doesn’t only affect you. What
you go through rarely affects only you. There are family members, friends, and
even strangers who may encounter you and therefore, come in contact with your
internal emergency. They may not even know what’s happening.
I won’t say there are only three responses to a
spiritual crisis as there are for a physical emergency, but hunkering down
(resting, hiding, sheltering), bugging out (fleeing) and reporting for duty are
among them. Do you know what to do? Do you know how to do it?
When I worked for the County of Erie, one of the tasks
I was given was to develop an emergency procedure manual for each of the county
buildings. I go through phases in which I recognize that I am unprepared for an
emergency. For the past couple of years, I’ve been trying to figure out ways to
be better able to take care of myself, whether there’s an emergency or not. I
can’t say I’ve done as well as I’d like. I also have to admit that I haven’t
paid a lot of attention to the spiritual end of things whether we’re talking about
the spiritual aspects of a physical emergency or the spiritual response to a
spiritual emergency. Today’s passages touch on the issue.
Of course, everyone is likely to start out their list
with “The Bible.” Great idea. You can access it online or on your phone or e-reader,
except your phone has 25 % power. Even if your e-reader is at full power, how
long will it last? Your best bet is a physical, printed Bible. But are you
going to carry around a full-sized study Bible everywhere you go? Will it fit
in your go-bag or glove compartment? Perhaps you need to contact a Gideon or
find a little pocket New Testament somewhere. In the meanwhile, what verses do
you need to know? Your other options are to memorize and to create your own little
Battle Bible.[1]
What are your favorite verses – or what verses can you
find that touch on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent,
and/or praiseworthy? What are verses that speak to you of truth, righteousness,
the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the word of God, and/or prayer? Can you
print out a few sheets of verses you can put in your purse, your wallet, your
glove compartment – in places where you’ll have them if you need them? What
verses would you include?
Comments
Post a Comment