Accident-Prone

Our family has been very accident-prone lately. If I'm honest, two of us, in particular, have been accident-prone.

My son was playing with his friend -- rough-housing as boys do -- and either sprained or jammed his ring finger and pinky finger. The last time he complained of pain after rough-housing we told him to "shake it off." Two weeks later I took him to the orthopedic clinic, thinking I would be proving my point that nothing was wrong and he needed to get over it. It turns out it was a buckle fracture (which, of course, I initially laughed at since I had never heard of such a thing -- oops).

In an effort to not win "Worst Mom of the Year" yet again, I took him to the clinic this time when his fingers were still swollen and bruised after a couple of days. They couldn't find a break, but suggested we wrap his fingers in order for them to heal properly.

My injury was a little different. I was decorating a high shelf for fall and turned my ankle as I was stepping down from my perch on the couch. If only it were that simple, though. I lost my balance and fell on my hip and hand . . . hard. I used to think, in my much younger years, that it was a little ridiculous to break a hip because of a fall. I always told myself that would never happen to me.

While I was laying on the floor in excruciating pain, I reconsidered my position on the issue. Maybe it wasn't so ridiculous after all. I felt like I had broken at least three bones and might never move from the tile floor. At that moment, I admitted to myself (with some resentment) that I had entered the age bracket where falls can spell disaster.

They couldn't find a break (except an old chipped bone -- go figure), but still put me in a lace-up brace as a precaution.

Just as Kaden had tape on his fingers and I wore a brace on my ankle for protection against further injury, so we, as followers of Christ, have protection we can wear every day in order to protect us from the enemy.

“Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians‬ ‭6:13-17‬ (‭NLT‬‬)

I participated in an amazing Bible study years ago, which taught about each piece of armor listed in these verses. This is the breakdown I learned from Kay Arthur in LORD, Is It Warfare? Teach Me to Stand.

1. The belt of truth -- The Word of God is the truth that we base every thought and decision on. It is absolute, inerrant, inspired, and God-breathed. (2 Timothy‬ ‭3:16‬ NLT‬‬)

2. The breastplate of righteousness -- We are declared righteous at the moment of salvation. It's not about anything we can do, but we put on Christ's righteousness.

3. The shoes of peace -- We are no longer sinners separated from God. Our relationship with Him is restored. We have peace with God so, as far as it depends on us, we should be at peace with others. During the time these verses were written, soldiers placed spikes on the bottom of their sandals so that they could stand firm in battle. The peace we have with God and with others helps us to stand firm in the same way.

4. The shield of faith -- Also during this time, soldiers soaked their shields in water so that any fiery arrows shot at them would immediately be extinguished. Just as the soldiers soaked their shields in water, we need to soak ourselves in the Word of God so that we can be ready to extinguish fiery arrows that the enemy shoots at us.

5. The helmet of salvation -- The Bible tells us that God identifies us as His own upon salvation, marking us with the seal of the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians‬ ‭1:13‬ ‭ESV‬‬) We can have confidence and assurance in that.

6. The sword of the Spirit -- We need to be armed with the only weapon Jesus ever used against His enemy: the Word of God. (‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:1-13‬ ‭NLT‬‬) We need to meditate on it and memorize it so that it can be ready at a moment's notice.

Are you leaving yourself unprotected? Put on your armor so that you can stand firm.