Have you ever seen the movie Braveheart? The one where Mel Gibson leads a rag-tag army of Scottish farmers in a rebellion against the British king? (As opposed to The Patriot, where Mel Gibson leads a rag-tag army of American farmers in a rebellion against the British king.)
There is a scene in Braveheart where William Wallace (Mel Gibson) tries to stir up his troops with a rallying-cry speech:
Wallace was telling his men, as Paul was telling us, that yes, the battle will be difficult and painful. But we must stand! We must fight!Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!!!
There are a few lessons to take to heart in the verse above. First of all, we must purposefully seek out and put on this armor. While God freely gives us every weapon we need, we must go get it! These battle pieces don't just fall onto us. Second, we put on the armor in order to be prepared for the battle. We cannot try to grab the helmet at the last minute - we must always be ready! We must always be prepared! And third, we must take action - stand our ground. Standing takes movement, correct? It takes an effort! To win, we must fight. To fight, we must stand!
I also think it bears noticing that there is a particular order here. First, seek God and his armor. Second, put on the armor. Third, stand and be ready!
God is very detailed, very strategic, very purposeful. What may at times seem like chaos to us is very much planned and ordained from his point of view. So we must be ready to fight, because at any moment, God may have a battle ready just for us. And while it may seem that the battle has come on us from out of the blue, if we are prepared - detailed, strategic, purposeful - we will be victorious!
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