Being Strong in the Day of Evil
by Liz Griffin
Last winter, the water company sent a team of men out on a new drinking water project in our area. Their job was to clean out the pipes which carry our drinking water and to seal them on the inside by spraying them with resin. This would ensure clean drinking water for the next fifty years with no leakage problems requiring repairs. Our road was selected to be the first one to be worked on.
Gravel chips were sent down the pipes with water under pressure, but they failed to get through and there was a blockage. The old pipes had been too weak to sustain the sudden pressure put on them and leaking water had appeared in several places. The second day the men worked for twelve hours until after dark to identify where the damage was and replace sections of pipe with new ones that were strong enough. Several homes even lost their water supply when the water was turned on again and plumbers worked round the clock to fix all the problems.
It made me think about us, as Christians. Are we strong enough for when the times of intense pressure might suddenly come upon us? Or will our weaknesses allow the enemy to stop us from functioning? Will the flow of the Holy Spirit, the living water, get blocked somehow?
It may be that we need the Lord to heal the cracks and weak places in our lives before the time of pressure comes upon us.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian church to urge them to be strong in the Lord. ‘A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil’ (Ephesians 6:10-11, NLT).
As our text for today says, there is an important reason why we, as Christian believers, need the full spiritual armour of God. The day of evil will come upon us, and then we will need ‘to stand our ground.’ The NASB translation says we will need to ‘be able to resist’ and ‘stand firm’.
Ever since the men finished all the work, thoroughly cleansed the pipes, and lined them with resin, I have been enjoying the improved taste of my drinking water. I am so thankful. I find I no longer need to use my water filter jug.
Liz Griffin lived for 20 years as an expatriate in South Africa, Bahrain and Japan, as her husband Paul worked for an international oil company. Paul and Liz became involved with Ellel Ministries in 1991 as part of the ministry team and joined the full-time team at Ellel Grange in 1995. Paul and Liz teach and minister to those seeking healing in their lives and together have written two books, 'Anger - How Do You Handle It' and 'Hope and Healing For The Abused'.
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