Ephesians 6:13
“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”
Today’s focus will be the concept of the evil day. Several of them come to mind in the bible. Jesus was tempted three times in the bible. One was a shortcut past the cross. This bypassed the enormous pain that would be encountered as He would die for our sin. If that was a temptation, that means He thought about it. All that we know would be different. He saved the day, by resisting. The other one was when He resisted the devil’s challenge to skydive off the temple. This was a pride challenge. It almost seems harmless, but probably not. The devil was seeking to have Him killed. Lastly was the turning stone into bread. Another one that seems harmless, but may it’s a door that Jesus didn’t want to open. He had been fasting for a very long time and was very hungry. He didn’t want to follow any of the devil’s suggestions.
Another evil day was experienced by Job. He was a very blessed, wealthy and godly man. He lost it all in a very short time. All he had left was a wife and his friends. They seemed to be part of punishment. The devil was trying to get him to curse God. His wife tried to do the same. The friends were clouding things.
David had a few evil days. Bathsheba was one, the census was another, his children behaving badly was another. The last one about his children may have been a “reap what you sow”, problem. He put Bathsheba’s husband to death and took her as a wife. One seems to have lost one’s moral authority with children with that.
Abraham had one with the sacrifice of his son. He behaved perfectly. But many things could have gone wrong at several junctures. He encountered two more when he traveled to foreign lands and told them Sarah was his sister. God had to rescue them in both situations.
We all encounter them. I’m still walking with Christ, so I survived. I sensed one recently. God rescued me from it. Another one was my badly behaved tenants. They stayed for years. At the height of frustration, God rescued us with an affordable property manager. I had a few work incidents to survive through. God saved me in an awesome way with one of them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was in the cross hairs of someone and God pulled a power play and thwarted it. I can’t help but smile when I think of it. Another one had some coworkers seemed to have a grievance against me. I have no idea what it was. It got leaked that my spouse had cancer and that pulled the narrative from the coworkers. They have left me alone since then.
These are distressing days that we have no control over. We are victims of the power of nature, etc. God knows, but we don’t. We are swept away by circumstances. Jesus shares the answer for preparation in Matthew 7:24-27, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”
To fear God is the answer. That means we obey when we sense His guidance. His main message is in the bible. That is to accept Christ and His forgiveness and to walk in His ways. He gives subjective messages to us individually. Some of these are our imagination, others are God. It’s best to obey, unless they go against anything in the bible. There is a slight tension here. If we can’t shake it and it keeps coming back, it may be God. Go with it.
The main course is what the bible says. That is how we prepare for the evil day. Storms will come that will wreck things. The worst that could happen is our death, but because we are in Christ, we are with Him forever. God has rescued me from the evil days mentioned. I will face more. They aren’t predicable.
This concept could heighten one’s anxiety. I Peter 5:7 tells us not to allow it, “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” If we are in Christ, we aren’t to worry at all. I don’t let my mind go there. There are too many “what if’s”.
If we feel anxiety creep in, we are told to pray and Philippians 4:7 promises peace, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” This is not just positive thinking. God invades our hearts with His peace. We don’t conjure it up. He gives it. How wonderful it is. It guards our hearts. He protects us from anxiety.
We need not worry about the evil day. He’s got us. Lord, help us to stay in Your ways. Thank You for keep us from evil and from fear.