Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Take a second and reflect how many times you have said, or you have heard, “I am under attack of the enemy”, and compare those statements to the number of times we have heard, “I am winning the battle of the Kingdom.” I dare say some of us have never said they were winning this spiritual battle that is promised to us.
Now, I know you have been attacked by the enemy, as have I. Attacks hurt. They can be painful. So, let’s look at this fight from a different angle.
Have you ever watched a hockey match? When a player takes a slap shot, that rock hard puck is moving 90-100 miles an hour. Some defenders will try to deflect the puck from the goal, but there is one guy on that ice who is willing to take the shot full force – the goalie! It is because the goalie has tested his pads and knows that he is protected. He will throw himself in the path of that missile, because he is confident of his safety.
Believers need that level confidence! Believers need to be so confident in the spiritual armor that they don’t flinch when a fiery missile is hurled their way. They have “The Armor of God” and God’s armor works!
In the same way a prepared firefighter has confidence in his suit to run into a burning building, we need to be confident in God’s protection of us, to do good when the heat is on!
The world has no armor and teaches that armor is bad. They teach that everyone should be wounded, thin skinned, and offended. The true Believer in spiritual armor sees those projectiles bouncing off, not allowing them to penetrate their heart. This is what it means to be living and abiding in God’s shelter!
Dwelling and abiding in the promises of the Almighty is the perfect defense. In football, it is commonly said, “Good offenses win games, but good defenses win championships!” I believe we do not have more victories in our lives because we do not know or trust our good defense, or the heart and strength of our Defender. The only way to truly know our Defender is to abide in His shadow, as we read about in Psalm 91.
The goal is not to become a great warrior. That is the wrong focus. We do not have to be fearless or bold. The secret of His Kingdom is this – if you spend time abiding in His Presence, you will automatically be given His Spirit! As you abide in His Kingdom, your vision will change from looking at enemies at your disadvantaged perspective to seeing them from The Almighty’s perspective. This completely reverses the power struggle. From there, we will see the Kingdom’s power, and impossibilities become attainable.
Blessings.