Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. -- Ephesians 6:10 (KJV)
Paul has been writing about ordinary rooms. Grace first, then the church, then husbands and wives, then children, then the man who answers to a master. He is still in the household at verse nine. At verse ten he turns and gives an order.
“Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Earlier in the same letter he prayed that God would strengthen these people “with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” The command points back at that prayer. Whatever this takes, God has been supplying it since chapter three.
Count the Verbs
Watch what Paul actually asks of you across verses eleven through fourteen. Able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Able to withstand in the evil day. Having done all, to stand. Stand therefore.
Four times in four verses, every one of them a form of stand. Every piece of equipment he is about to name gets issued to a soldier whose orders are to hold ground Christ already took. That changes how a bad week reads. You are being pushed off ground that belongs to you, which is a different problem from failing to earn it.
He also says “the evil day,” singular. Some days come in heavier than the others, and the heavy ones arrive without warning. Which is an argument for getting dressed before you can see why.
The Wrong Opponent
Then verse twelve. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood.”
Most of the pressure this week will arrive wearing a face — a coworker, a child, a brother who will not move. Paul grants you the friction. He corrects your reading of it. Principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places: that is the roster he gives. Flesh and blood shows up on the field. Flesh and blood was never the enemy.
The devil is content to let you spend a whole week winning an argument with someone who was never the point.
Somebody's face has been standing in for the enemy this week. Say whose, honestly, and then put the name back where it belongs. They are somewhere in this. They are not what you are fighting.
