The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, ¹⁹ and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Ephesians 6:10-20

This was my prayer today.

And So I Run

Working out.  It's tough.  I love it.  I hate it.  It's not a competition.  But it kinda is.  Working out is where you find that you are your own worst enemy.

This morning I woke to my brother nudging my shoulder.  "Time to go!"  Biting back a moan about how it would be so much nicer to stay in bed for another couple hours before work, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and pulled my messy bed-head hair into a pony tail.

I am not a morning person.  Not in the slightest.  But for my brother, I'd do almost anything, including getting up before the sun to take him to the airport.

The plus to getting up early?  A quiet and still house to come home to in which to have my coffee with God.

After I got home from work, I wanted to do nothing more than either curl up with my book or simply take a nap.  However, I knew if I didn't run right then that I wouldn't get my exercise in.  Sometimes, you've just gotta force yourself to do the uncomfortable.  For me that means sometimes running a few miles in the heat of the day when I would rather be doing anything but.

Life is tough.  Suck it up.

One of the things I've found, though, is that my runs have become super important to me.  Do I enjoy them?  Not particularly.  I can't breathe, I get tired of running the same routes, my legs hurt, and my little brother is not so subtle in his "you should probably get a shower now" hints.

That being said, part of me enjoys them and they have quickly become important to me.  Running allows me to get out of the house, do something good/productive for myself, process life, and most importantly, pray.  Yes, my runs have quickly turned into my prayer time.  Why?  Because I am very clearly reminded in a very tangible way that when I am weak He is strong.  With that very much at the forefront of my mind, I find that I get a lot of ground covered both spiritually and physically.

That's part of the reason I force myself to run 5 miles regularly or try new routes and switch it up, or simply push myself harder.  It's a good reminder of the work that needs doing in my spiritual walk/run with the Lord.

And so I run.