Rats, Rocky, Filling Gaps, Wonder Woman and the Armor of God

I'm still a little obsessed with rats.

I saw one dead on the street two days ago and instead of rejoicing that another one bit the dust, 

I felt this dread inside, 

"They're BACK!"

And it didn't help that someone nearby posted on Facebook a picture 

of a baby rat nest she found under her woodpile 

in her backyard.

Or that Nigel kept sniffing at a cabinet in the family room 

the other night like he SMELLED A RAT.

Literally.

I feel like I'm at the beginning of a big fight and I need to get prepared by getting the right shoes, equipment or be sent off to Russia to train in the snow and a barn the old school way like Rocky when he fought Drago.

Remember these crazy barn loft sit ups?

And how he lifted up that big wheelbarrow like cart
with Adrian, his trainer and his crazy brother-in-law just sitting in it watching
him struggle to lift them up?

I have a point, I promise.

I read a devotional the other day by Kelly Balarie at Purposeful Faith about a rat that got stuck in a hole in the siding of her garage.

Kelly knew the hole was there in her garage and knew she needed to fill it in but, like many things on our to-do list, it got pushed down in priority.

Overlooked.

Then a fat rat got stuck in the hole 

and the item on her to-do list raced 

to the top of the priorities for the day.

She goes on to say that in our lives, we all have gaps to fill in to keep unwanted things out.

Things we've been meaning to repair.

Tend to.

Things like our health, unforgiveness, anger.

We don't realize the risk each day when we bump those items down in priority on our to-do list.

Then we end up with two HUGE dead rats in our dryer vent.

The vent on the outside of our house was open with a small hood.

Anything could get in and DID.

We had no idea.

I don't even remember picking out that vent.

That's how little of a priority it was to me.

Now we have a vent with a magnetic cover to let the dryer exhaust out but not let unwanted creatures in.

We're protected.

God wants us protected too.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

Ephesians 6:10-11

He not only wants us to be fully protected, but know who the real enemy is.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavily realms."

Ephesians 6:12

That's some heavy stuff.

"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."

Ephesians 6:13

The cool thing about the armor of God, is that we are only asked to put it ON and STAND OUR GROUND. 

God does all the fighting.

So no Rocky crazy sit ups from a barn loft 

that would make me dizzy are necessary.

But we can't just sit in the wheelbarrow cart either,

waiting to be lifted up.

We have to actively put on the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, slip on our gospel of peace shoes, pick up our shield of faith, put on our helmet of salvation and hold the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17)

Every day.

My bible study notes say about "standing your ground" and "standing firm:"

"In this context the imagery is not that of a massive invasion of the domain of evil, 

but of individual soldiers withstanding assault."

God is going before us and after us to do all the fighting in our very personal, individual, rat-infested lives. We just need to be armored up and stand firm.

It makes me think of the scene in the movie "Wonder Woman." 

There is a part where she is standing along side soldiers from World War I. There was a front line area called "No Man's Land" that the soldiers were afraid to cross into because it was where the most enemy fire would be encountered. 

Without crossing into it, the two sides remained at a stand still. 

Wonder Woman walked right into "No Man's Land" and held up her shield to deflect the incoming fire. There was an aerial shot of all the fire coming at her and her just standing firm behind her shield. 

There were so many bullets shot at her, bouncing off the shield, it seemed they were on fire.

via GIPHY

It made me cry.

We are often SO UNAWARE of all the "flaming arrows of the evil one" that are hurled at us.

We try to do life in our own power and get so weary and discouraged that we blame "being with the wrong person" or "being tired" or "being hormonal" or "being hangry."

We forget God gave us the perfect weapon, "take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." (Ephesians 6:16)

Wonder Woman didn't fight back, she just stood her ground and "withstood the assault." 

While doing so, the soldiers were able to gain ground.

God meant us to live victoriously because He has already won the battle. 

But the enemy isn't going to go out like the loser he is without a fight until the end.

He's going to try hard to make us forget about all the gaps in our lives.

The areas we've left wide open that need a vent cover.

He's going to try hard to distract us 

so we keep their repair low on our to-do list.

But God is in the business of fixing things.

It's why he sent His son to die for us--so things would be fixed for good for us.

Forever.

Let's go into this Easter weekend ARMORED UP, 

gaps filled 

and ready to STAND OUR GROUND.