THIS IS HOW WE FIGHT OUR BATTLES

You are in the fight of your life. Your body and spirit are broken and battered from one battle after another. The enemy’s attacks continue to come fast and furious and the wounds are deep. They advance from all sides, prowling around like a roaring lion! And when it seems as if you don’t have another day of fight in you, as though the weight on your shoulders will make your knees buckle at any moment, you are asked to yet again put on a full suit of armor. The Full Armor of God. You call out to God in this time of weakness and desperation and in your weakness, He is made strong! It is His strength in you that gives you the power to stand in His armor! Calling on His name gives you strength needed to claim victory in any difficulty! It is in His strength you do not cower, but are able to stand firm and fight another day!

Our pastors of the Emmanuel Christian Churches know the importance of putting on the Full Armor of God each and every day. Haiti’s history is riddled with one battle after the next. The last three to four years have been no exception. And most recently, phrases like “guerilla warfare”, “Somollian-like situations,” “worst I have ever seen,” “complete anarchy”, and others have been used to describe the free-falling circumstances being reported from across the country. The gang activity is no longer isolated to Port au Prince and violent protests are moving into areas that were once considered almost immune.

In the midst of it all, RoRo, Eline, and our eight pastors and their wives stand with the strength of the Lord, holding them up in His full suit of armor. They do not fear and are not panic stricken when the enemy releases flaming arrows in their direction, for they have covered themselves in the shield of faith, faith in the promises of the Lord! Faith that He will deliver them from this if it is His will, but even if He does not, they will still praise Him and will not bow to any other god! (Daniel 3:17-18, paraphrased)

These men and women stand firm with the belt of truth around their waist, knowing that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)! They stand protecting their heart and souls from being pierced by the enemy’s weapons because of their breastplate of righteousness that they have tightly fastened through their devotion and obedience to live as Christ lived! Their feet are fitted in readiness to go out and preach the Gospel of Peace, for they have been dedicated to the Word! So easily they could fall prey to what the ruler of this world tells them, but they have equipped themselves with the helmet of Salvation, covering themselves in the Blood of Christ! And at their side, the most powerful of all swords ever to be carried by a warrior, the sword of the Spirit! They are accompanied by the Word of God as they go out into their communities to share their faith, providing hope, and spreading the greatest message of love!

It is a hard, long war, but we know the end; we know who wins! Let us be sustained by the strength we find in the Lord! Each day, let us be fully clothed in the armor of God!