Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.“
I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time fighting the wrong battles. I get frustrated with people, with circumstances, and with things that aren’t going the way I want them to. And somewhere in all that, I forget what Paul is telling us here in Ephesians 6. The real battle isn’t against any of that stuff. It’s not against other people. It’s not even against my own bad habits or poor decisions. There’s something bigger going on.
Paul wrote this to a group of people living in a world full of conflict, and his point was pretty clear, you’re fighting the wrong fight if you’re only looking at what you can see. The enemy isn’t the person who cut you off in traffic or the coworker who drives you crazy. The real opposition is spiritual, and it has a very specific goal, to pull you away from God and wear you down until you forget who you are and who you belong to.
The other thing Paul makes clear is that the strength we need doesn’t come from us. He doesn’t say “toughen up” or “try harder.” He says be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. That’s an important distinction. I tend to white-knuckle my way through hard seasons, like if I just push harder I’ll get through it. But that’s not the point. The point is to draw strength from God, from his word, from prayer, and from the community of believers. Those things of his Kingdom are what actually hold up when things get hard.
And then there’s the armor. Paul is about to walk through a detailed comparison of a Roman soldier fully equipped for battle and the spiritual tools God gives us. He’s not being dramatic for the sake of it. He’s saying God has actually given us everything we need to stand firm. We don’t have to be afraid of what the enemy throws at us. We just have to actually use what we’ve been given.
So remember what we’re really up against, stop fighting the wrong battles, and lean into the One who actually provides the strength to stand.