Aggressive Faith

1/30/1992

I got a little card in the mail. Somebody obeyed God and dropped it in the mail to me recently. It had a passage from Philippians that said, “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” It came at a really important time for me. There is a kind of faith that is sort of passive, and then there is a kind of faith that is really faith, that is much more aggressive. I had been kind of fighting my way into that today, with waves of depression and other sorts of things. I had an underlying confidence that God would supply all my needs, but in order to break loose from the effects of the waves and bombardments that I was receiving, the fiery darts, I needed to be much more aggressive, even though I knew that in God’s time, He would supply all my needs. There was some peace in that, but it was just in the last half hour that I considered the more aggressive aspect.

I just wondered if you ever find yourself in a position of depression or discouragement or frustration or you feel helpless or you feel worthless, if this might not apply to you, too. It’s a passage that we’ve all heard a 1000 times, but it was really “manna” for me a little while ago.

“Finally be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authority, against powers of the dark world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes -and it will-, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you’ve done everything to stand, stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, with your feet fitted with 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, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word God and 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. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words might be given to me so that I will fearless make known the mystery of the gospel for which I’m an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might declare it fearlessly as I should.”

The thing that kept striking me as I read that again and again and again a little while ago, in an effort to gird up the loins of my mind, was that that passage doesn’t give any place for depression, for fatigue, or for terrible terrible circumstances. It doesn’t make any room for any kind of bombardments. It simply is emphatic that we should take our stand, that we should be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, that we should put on the full armor of God. That’s the thing that I began to see as I looked at that passage and I looked at what God’s heart was on that matter. There’s no respect for circumstances in all of that. It says, “YOU take up the full armor. YOU take your stand. YOU decide to gird yourself and to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power.” It’s a command. Be strong!

That’s like that song, “Give thanks! Let the weak say ‘I am strong’ and the poor say ‘I am rich.’” There’s an aggressiveness to being an Overcomer that sort of overcomes all the circumstances by faith. It was a real simple thought but helpful for me a little while ago.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God SO THAT when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground.

I hope you’re catching it. The day of evil will come. There will be waves. There will be circumstances, temptations for sin as well as for fear, which is also sin. Those things are going to happen. You will have difficult times in your life, maybe extended periods of difficulty. There’s no question about it--“When the day of evil comes.” But there’s absolutely no reason in the world that you cannot stand your ground. When that day of evil comes, you’re entirely capable, if you put on the full armor of God, if you continue to pray for all the saints and you pray in the spirit with all sorts of petitions and requests, if that’s the way you function, putting on the breastplate of righteousness and taking up the shield of faith to extinguish the fiery darts, the waves of attack from the enemy. When the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand. You will be able to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. You won’t have to waiver. I don’t have to waiver. I don’t have to lose five minutes, let alone a day of God’s time. I don’t have to. I CAN stand. I can take my stand and deflect the fiery darts and be strong in the Lord; not just “survive,” but I can actually be strong. I can emanate His character, not having snappy responses or selfish pursuits or hiding or lashing out. I don’t have to ever do those things, if I’ve prepared myself, and if I’m standing and holding the ground and putting on the full armour of God. I can actually be strong in those times, not just barely get by and then excuse myself because “after all I hurt really bad.”

There’s aggressiveness to knowing that God will supply all your needs. It’s not just an underlying thing, but it’s a command, “Be strong!”

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