“With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.” (Ps. 18:29, NIV) In this Psalm, King David is rejoicing over the victories that God gave him over his political and military enemies. Under the new covenant, believers have no geographic kingdom in this world and “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world” (Eph. 6:12, NIV). This sounds like a daunting task, for mere humans to defeat unseen rulers and authorities! And yet, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37, NIV). We can have victory over challenges.
So, how can we “advance against a troop” and “scale a wall” in the spiritual sense? How can we have victory over challenges? With the full armor and weapons of God. “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Eph. 6:13, NIV). Ephesians 6 grants us truth to defeat falsehoods. We have righteousness to defeat corruption. We have the gospel to defeat the spiritual death that unbelievers live with. We have the shield of faith to stop the Enemy’s attacks. We have our salvation, which keeps our mind in peace. We have Scripture that the Spirit uses to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5, NIV).
Therefore, he promises that if we abide in him, we will have victory over challenges, and “the one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne” (Rev. 3:21, ESV). We will sit with Jesus and share his authority! This blows my mind.
Think about the challenges in your life that seem to be blocking your freedom in Christ. The above scriptures promise us victory. Our victory is not necessarily the elimination of the problem, but to somehow display the image of God in our lives in the midst of it. God gave us the weapons to win this victory. His power will shine through. Is there any greater victory than for us to radiate the restored image of God, the image of Christ, through our lives in a gray world?
Think about the challenges you have now. How can you use the armor and weapons of God to have victory over challenges?
