Darkness and Light

Depression is a battle. I might be home an entire day, not accomplishing much and feel like I’ve run a marathon when I go to bed. Why is that? Because depression is a BATTLE.

And whether we like it or not, we MUST fight. Some days, our fight may be ONE step of obedience (see previous blog post), BUT we must fight.

I just went through some difficult days this winter, and I didn’t fight. I should have. I’m thankful God forgives.

So how do we fight a battle? We put on armor. Where do we find the armor of God? It's described for us in Ephesians 6. Let’s break down the armor of God.

1. Belt of truth. Truth is your friend in your fight. Truth will break walls and set you free. Where is truth found? In scripture! (I bet as we break down the armor of God, you’re going to start seeing a pattern).  Tell yourself truth. Write it down. Write as many truths down. It’s better than curling in a ball and crying. (and I’ve spent a lot of time doing just that)
2.  Breastplate of righteousness.  Where does your righteousness come from? Is it something you do? Hardly! It comes from Christ. His work on the cross is the basis for our righteousness. He took ALL the yuckiness of our sin on Him, and when He saves us, He places ALL his righteousness on us. AMAZING GRACE. If you know Christ, beloved, he will never look on you as anything but righteous. And this truth will get you through some very difficult days. 
3.  Gospel of peace.  Oh peace can be elusive to the one who suffers from depression. But where is peace found? In the gospel! (seeing that pattern yet?) The gospel is our only hope. What is the gospel? Christ died for my sins on the cross. I am dead in my trespasses and sins. When I place my faith in Christ (which is a gift in itself), He places his righteousness on me and takes my sins and nails them on that cross. When He (God the Father) looks at me, HE SEES CHRIST! WOW. Even when I'm depressed, He looks at me and sees CHRIST.
4.  Shield of faith. Our faith in Christ is the light that will get us through darkness. We have hope!
5. Helmet of salvation (ok, I really think we’ve covered this salvation thing). Do you think God is getting across to us that our ARMOR is our SALVATION?? His covenant promises apply to us in WHOLE when we know Christ. We are preserved, saved, sanctified, helped, protected, loved (and I could go on and on).
6. Sword of the spirit. We must KNOW truth and tell ourselves truth if we’re going to make it through this life. But we won’t know truth if we don’t get in the WORD. It’s our sword to pierce through darkness.   

But you know, I always thought of the armor of God as some difficult thing to “put on”. Heavy. But writing this blog post, I see it’s very simple. It’s the saving grace of Jesus Christ. It's my focus on THAT truth. All the time. 

So friend, put on the Armor of God. You may not FEEL any different, but you will be sanctified through the grace and salvation of Jesus.