Soul armor for the military wife

by Jocelyn Green, author of Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 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.

Ephesians 6:10-13

I had never noticed until yesterday that the thrust of this passage is “to stand”: take your stand, withstand, stand your ground, stand . . .  Sometimes, isn’t that just about all that can be asked of a military wife? Many days, doesn’t it just seem like too much effort to put one foot in front of the other? All we can do is stand–but if we’re honest, we recognize that there are days when even that is too much for us. Our husbands fight physical battles, but all of us face our own spiritual battles, as well. 

I’d like to share with you some tips for standing strong gleaned from my pastor’s sermon yesterday. I’ll put a military wife spin on these, but the main ideas come from Rich VanHeukelum of Walnust Ridge Baptist Church in Waterloo, Iowa.

1. Do not think we can stand on our own. Look at verse 10: “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” We should not expect to go it alone, but to draw on the Lord’s strength. Remember, too, that the Lord often chooses to strengthen us with other Christians, so don’t be afraid to lean on someone else for support!

2. Do not even try to stand without the armor of God. The armor of God is listed in Eph. 6:14-18:

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Here’s the thing about the body armor–you need all of it in order to be fully protected. We need salvation, faith, the Word of God, truth, righteousness and the gospel of peace. Even in 100+ degree heat, our troops in the Middle East wear their full gear. What soldier would go out in shorts in enemy territory just because it’s hot? In the same way, we must always be prepared against attacks.

The Bible gives us a record of Satan’s tactics, so we know that he tempts us with what seems attractive but ultimately harms us; he tries to twist Scripture for his purposes; he comes at us when we are most vulnerable and alone (think Eve and Jesus in the wilderness); he even uses well-meaning Christians who have good motives! (See Matthew 16:21-23.) And the scary thing about that of course is that not only can good people give us bad advice, but that if we are not fully clothed with the armor of God ourselves, we might be that good person giving sincere but sincerely wrong counsel.

3. Do not think we can see our enemy. Verse 12 tells us that we struggle (some versions say “wrestle”) not against flesh and blood but against forces and powers. To wrestle means to have hand-to-hand combat. This struggle is up close and personal, even though we can’t put a face on it. Military wives, what do you wrestle against? Discouragement, bitterness, hopelessness, helplessness, resentment, worry, fear, isolation, depression? I have fought against every one of these, myself, and I’m sure there are more I have forgotten. Let’s also remember, however, that there are unseen angelic forces fighting for us, too.

4. Finally, do not think that we can choose the time of battle. Because we never know when the attack may come (but we do know it will come!), we must always be ready. When we are alone, or separated from our support networks because of a recent move, an ill child, or another reason, we may be especially vulnerable. If all things seem to be going well, our guard may be down.

Every morning, our pastor reads Ephesians 6:10-13 to remind himself to be on guard, to discern truth from lies. He then prays: “Lord, I know that today I will be attacked by a force greater than me. I need you to protect me from that.” It’s a daily habit I’ve decided to adopt, myself.

I hope these tips will be helpful to you as you face the daily trials that can easily overwhelm- either during or between deployments! Can you think of another way to stand strong? If so, please share it!

Tagged as: armor of God, Devotions, military wife