Make a Stand

Set Friday night at a high school football game, I saw something that doesn’t happen very often: an offense had a first-and-goal opportunity at the one-yard line and they failed to score. The opposing defense came up big and made a huge stand to prevent the touchdown that probably would have lost them the game. In life, how often do we feel like we're down-and-out, like Satan and his team have marched the ball straight down the field until they're standing with first-and-goal on our one-yard line just about ready to punch it in and score? Often, when we're at our weakest, winning seems impossible. The devil attacks hoping for the easy kill. Take a moment to read the story of Jesus' encounter with Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4 or Luke 4). Notice how Jesus was tempted by Satan after He had already been in the wilderness for 40 days and nights. Think about how physically weak Jesus must have been at that point. Yet, He made a stand. This story should encourage us all. When we feel like we've been pushed back to the edge of giving in and we feel like putting up a fight isn't worth it, we must dig deep and stand strong. "Put on the full armor of God,” as Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians, and rely on the strength and mighty power of our great God.