There is no way I will make it through this blog post without a reference to one of my favorite movies, Gladiator, so just let me alleviate the anticipation now. (Referenced previously in Face Down in the Arena). If you’ve never seen this epic saga of ancient Rome, I encourage you to view it from the absolute beginning to the culminating scene so you receive the benefits of the spiritual undertones, but it is a gruesome and violent film. Although the initial instinct may be to shutter our eyes against the cruelty (as I also do when viewing The Passion of the Christ), it might be worthwhile to reconcile the bloody reality of the culture during the days when Jesus and His disciples walked this earth.

As I continue to read Scripture, a desire emerges to accurately understand the timeless truth of the words contained within, and sometimes a video production like Gladiator enhances this process. Like walking over the stone pathways in Jerusalem or under the trees at Gethsemane, a richer understanding of the Bible materializes when more senses are involved. It’s far easier to imagine the fear of the disciples as shared in the gospels when you are being tossed about in the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee. Standing on the dirt floor of the Roman Colosseum evokes an overwhelming response for the magnitude of the arena, and the fear the slaves must have experienced as they faced their demise, often times with very little armor for protection.

Like the gladiators in ancient Rome, you and I, as Christ followers are provided armor to protect against the evil in this world, but sometimes it may be hard to truly grasp this concept of spiritual warfare. Because of a tendency to peer through rose-colored glasses at this world, it’s sometimes difficult for me to comprehend that someone desires for me to struggle, and that the armor of God as outlined in Ephesians 6 might be necessary equipment to adorn. Although church has attempted to teach me this lesson ages ago, it wasn’t until Amy Matthis prayed parts of this passage over me at FaithWalk that a clearer picture materialized.

Fighting the fiery arrows of Satan and fighting to flourish cannot be accomplished without the armor of God. Priscilla Shirer in her Bible study entitled Armor of God shares, “No matter which translation you copied, one word is similar in most: wrestle. Some translate it struggle.” Struggle resonates with me because we all have an issue we struggle with, whether it’s Singleness, loneliness, fear, or something else, struggle “denotes a contest or a fight between opponents, waged in close, hand-to-hand combat with the goal of pinning down and defeating one’s rival.” Like gladiators in ancient Rome, I desire for as much protection as I can get to combat my struggle.

Jennie Lusko in her book The Fight to Flourish also mentions the need to put our Armor On so “that [we] can take [our] stand against the devil’s schemes…This is important to understand as we fight to flourish: admitting that we’re weak on our own and need the power of God to engage in battle changes how we live.” In her book, Get Out of Your Head, Jennie Allen encourages readers to make a choice to put our Armor On and resist “the lie that we are victims of our thoughts rather than warriors equipped to fight on the front lines of the greatest battle of our generation: the battle for our minds.” I’ll share more from these fabulous ladies later, but today, I ask my Struggling Friends to equip yourself for the battle to flourish. Put your Armor On in preparation for the struggle because it exists whether it’s obvious today or not. Your fight to flourish is a daily contest and I desire for you to be ready with the best battlefield warrior by your side, but even with Him, you need your Armor On too!

References:

Allen, J. (2020). Get out of your head: Stopping the spiral of toxic thoughts. The Crown Publishing Group.

Lusko, J. (2020). The fight to flourish: Engaging in the struggle to cultivate the life you were born to live. Zondervan.

Shirer, P. (2015). The Armor of God. Lifeway Press.