Waiting is a Weapon

…after you have done everything…stand. Stand firm then…

Ephesians 6:13-14

Standing is a kind of waiting, and waiting doesn’t feel very victorious in the middle of a fierce battle.

It certainly doesn’t feel like a weapon. 

Armor does. Belts and breastplates and shields do. Helmets and swords sure do.

Recently I visited castles and towers famous for battle, filled with armor and weapons. The imagery is strong in my mind.

But waiting? What kind of weapon is that? I don’t recall any sticky notes reading wait in the glass museum cases beside the old chain mail. Sounds kind of anti-battle. Actually, it sounds a bit like a death wish.

When I face a battle, I want to do something. Battles are busy affairs, after all. The famous Christian warfare passage of Ephesians 6:10-18 is chock-a-block with doing language: we are struggling; we are told to put on the full armor of God, take our stand in the evil day, do everything we can, buckle the belt of truth around our waist, put the breastplate of righteousness in place, fit our feet with the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, pray and keep on praying.

When my children were young we memorized the armor of God. Proudly bearing their homemade cardboard weapons, they stomped and recited and paraded in front of their grandparents, to much applause and joy.

But I forgot one weapon. Perhaps because I didn’t know then what a powerful weapon it is.

Tucked in the middle of the Christian’s instruction about spiritual warfare is a weapon that may be missed if we don’t pay attention.

Waiting is a weapon. 

…after you have done everything…stand. Stand firm then…

Ephesians 6:13b-14

Stand is another word for wait. There is a time when all the doing is done. This is the strategic moment for the weapon of waiting. The weapons of our warfare work together. We put on the full armor of God, so we can take our stand. So we can wait when there’s nothing more we can do.

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. 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. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions and with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert, and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Have you ever donned your armor, tracing the words of Ephesians 6:10-18 until they are as slick as a well-worn path through the woods, carefully putting on, doing, buckling, fitting, and taking up, until you’ve absolutely done all you can?

That’s the moment! That moment when the doing is done is when you take up your waiting-weapon and stand.

Notice we don’t stand unprotected. We don’t wait vulnerable. We are armored, we are buckled up, cinched tight, minds and hearts protected, shields high. Waiting for the King.

Waiting is trusting. 

Now that is a powerful weapon indeed. I’m beginning to understand how waiting is a weapon. And it’s all tied up in who we wait for.

Just like understanding who you are struggling against (the devil) and how to fight (with God’s full armor), it’s critical that we understand who we are waiting on.

In the fiercest battles, it sure can look like we are waiting on flesh and blood. On our boss. On someone’s heart to change. On a new job. On love and friendship. On that prodigal to come home.

In spiritual battles, we who belong to the Lord are always and only waiting on Him. Jesus has won the victory for us, and He is the Lord of the angel armies who yet fights for us today. 

After we have done everything, we stand. We wait expectantly. We stand firm, then. While we wait, we keep on praying. Though the arrows fly around us and the sound of war deafens our ears, we wait on the Lord.

His coming is as sure as the dawn.

Have you put on His armor and done everything? Time to take up your new weapon and stand. Wait on the Lord, now, dear one. #Waiting is a weapon. #spiritual warfare Click To Tweet

Lord, here I stand in Your armor, standing my ground while I wait for You. Amen.

@audreycfrank

Photo by Mario La Pergola on Unsplash