THE ARMOR
Warrior Moms, lately, I’ve been feeling like this invisible suit of armor hasn’t fit very well. Remember David? When he was going to try to fight Goliath, the King gave him armor to wear. Remember how it didn’t fit, and how he almost looked silly? Didn’t they laugh at the sight of him in that cumbersome enormously large armor? I’ll have to look that up, but I think I remember them laughing at him or at least raising their eyebrows… a lot. And I think that the most amusing part to the standing-byers was, not so much that he was trying to wear the clunky equipment atop his small frame, but rather that he even THOUGHT he could fight a monster 5 times his size: I think THAT was the most entertaining part.
Well, lately, I can relate to David. I feel like I got issued the wrong size of various parts of armor, that I’m too small for such a uniform, and that the task at hand is even harder to grasp than this huge invisible sword, shield and helmet in my hand. I hear God cheering me on as I read the Bible and the stories of faith and perseverance, but the world keeps laughing at the thought of me trying to fight Goliath-type circumstances.
I have felt this way for a while, never voicing it out loud for fear that someone would see my fear rather than my faith – but I can say it now because I’ve had an incredible breakthrough – a wondrous event of inspiration. Oh, no, lightning didn’t strike, I didn’t hear a mountain rumble and fall, the walls around me didn’t fall like Jericho – even though I did consider marching around my house and my office seven times in an expectancy of miraculous change – but something happened within lately, something happened to me that made the invisible armor fit like a glove…
Here’s my question leading up to my point: “If life were a battlefield and you looked around, would more people be trying to gear up like David was, or would the majority be standing around, looking, laughing, and raising their eyebrows at those who were?” I think it’s obvious; things haven’t changed much since Biblical times, because those who are willing to try the impossible and, more so, those who are willing to believe in the impossible, seem to be few and far between. The masses seem to believe the glass is half empty rather than half full. When one person tries to voice the impossible, those around that person gather up and get louder, drowning out that one voice – telling them that what they thought was possible – really isn’t. And the half-empty glass believers are greater in number, so they seem to win a few more battles than the half-full-glass people. That’s why when someone does something amazing and inspiring and seemingly impossible – it makes a great story – it gets on the news – people talk about it with sparkles in their eyes. Why? Because it’s right up there with miracle status when the impossible becomes possible and it makes a great inspiring story for PARADE in the Sunday edition of the paper – or it gets its own segment in WOMAN’S DAY.
And so you see, I’ve tapped into this little conspiracy, and I have found the truth. Let me back up. You know that armor I was talking about and how I have been feeling like it doesn’t fit? My invisible armor is my faith, my Christianity, my hopes, my dreams, my beliefs, my goals, my everything: I have felt like my armor didn’t fit because my circumstances were just too great, and as I’ve wrestled with the belt, the shield, the sword, the helmet, the boots – all of it too large for my small frame, I’ve walked awkwardly and with much effort, becoming exhausted before I even got close enough to Goliath – most of the time giving up or giving in before voicing what I believed to be possible. Then I realized that I didn’t have to put my invisible armor down, that would be like dying. How could I lay down my big faith, how could I drop my helmet of hope, how could I relinquish my sword of truth & quotes, and sayings of possibilities?! How could I take off my boots of basic determination? And why should I? To give all that up would be like giving up, giving in, and succumbing to the world’s belief that nothing is really possible – especially all the hard things. Remember that cheering voice of God? Well, I began to listen to Him, and the more I listened to Him, and the less I listened to the world, the more I began to have growth spurts, until one day I woke up and I realized THE ARMOR FIT! My chest, my arms, my legs, my feet grew right into that armor! (Well, not my chest – that’s fine the way it is, thank you.)
Warrior Moms, if you are going to claim a large faith, if you are going to live large in the hope of Jesus Christ, you’ve got to be willing to grow into the armor. I quit fighting the fact that my faith seemed larger than my circumstance. You see, the larger my faith got, the smaller my circumstance became. I think that many people walk around with the armor – not wanting to relinquish it – and for good reason – not even realizing that it’s not a matter of struggling with our faith, but rather – becoming as large as our faith. Which means, of course, that one must tune out the small defeated way of thinking like the world thinks, and take hold of the hope of a Savior who says, “Yes, the armor that you are carrying around is rather large, and your frame is small – seemingly smaller than your faith – so grow up – grow into it, let yourself believe, and become what I know you can and what you know deep down – that it’s not a matter of finding smaller armor that fits your small frail frame – but rather, keeping the armor of faith that you have – and growing into it – Live large and be louder than the voices of defeat!”
Now, I know that in David’s case, he needed to take off his armor to win. I used David, though, because it’s good imagery of someone trying to fit into armor that didn’t fit – that was too big. His armor was real metal in the story; I’m referring to the invisible armor of faith that we carry around as if it’s too big. My main point is that a lot of us think our invisible armor of faith is too big – so we let the world shrink us back instead of growing bold enough to believe as big as our faith – as big as God’s possibilities. That’s my main point. Warrior Moms, grow large in the faith, and don’t shrink back – whatever you do, don’t ever lay down your faith, because when it seems too big or cumbersome in impossible circumstances, THAT, my fellow Warrior Moms, is the critical moment, if you persevere, where dreams become a reality! And THAT is when the doubting stander-byers begin to get amazed and maybe even begin to believe themselves….
THE ARMOR
The armor was large
And heavy in size
It made me grunt
It made me sigh
It made me weary to think
About carrying on
I mean after all –
This road is long
I considered putting my armor down
And riding this bike lying on
The ground
How easy it would be – to put the armor
Down
And ride off into the sunset
On this light-hearted bike upon the ground
But instantly I thought
No, it must be a trap
I’ve got to keep my armor
And figure out where the battle is at
The battle was in my mind
And in my heart and if I kept my armor
Surely a profound victory would start
So I kept my breastplate of righteousness
And my sword of salvation
My helmet of truth
And kept my feet fitted for
A more grand destination…
And I waited for the Lord
For in my weakness – His strength is made perfect
And if I exercised some patience
I bet yes I just bet
That I would begin to grow
Mounting up on High
And that this seemingly too big armor
Would suddenly become my new size
And you know what
It’s true
I did grow
Right into my Big Faith
Just ever so slow
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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:13-17
Kristina Seymour loves to encourage and equip women through the Word and through community. She is the author of The Warrior Mom Handbook, The Warrior Mom Leadership Manual, and The Warrior Wife Handbook; they are available at Amazon.com. Kristina’s Bible studies are for women who desire to live by faith in the midst of their everyday lives. She has learned that women can’t survive on caffeine and animal crackers alone; women in the Word and in community are united and able to stand firm. To learn more about Kristina, please visit her website, https://kristinaseymour.com/. God loves to share His story of love and grace through us all, and Kristina believes that everyone has a story to tell.
Kristina Seymour loves to encourage and equip women through the Word and through community. She is the author of The Warrior Mom Handbook, The Warrior Mom Leadership Manual, and The Warrior Wife Handbook; they are available at Amazon.com. Kristina’s Bible studies are for women who desire to live by faith in the midst of their everyday lives. She has learned that women can’t survive on caffeine and animal crackers alone; women in the Word and in community are united and able to stand firm. To learn more about Kristina, please visit her website, https://kristinaseymour.com/. God loves to share His story of love and grace through us all, and Kristina believes that everyone has a story to tell.
