Surviving the Game ~ Skillet
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand [the side not carrying a shield]. ~ Psalm 121:5 AMPC
If the right hand is your working side, why did the verse also specify that the Lord’s on the side not carrying a shield. As a warrior, your shield gives you protection. When you feel protected, you won’t run from the enemy. Instead, you’ll either stand your ground, or advance in battle.
I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. ~ Psalm 16:8 AMPC
If the left side carries the shield for protection and confidence, then the Lord provides that for you on your right side. He stands at your side and gives you a weapon to wield.
Last week, I had the opportunity to walk one of the 3rd grade classes through the temptations of Jesus. We discussed the importance of knowing scripture as a way to overcome temptation. Just as we weren’t given a sword to hang it on a belt, we weren’t given a Bible to keep it closed on a table. There’s nothing scary about either scenario. But swinging a sword and studying scripture...that makes us a dangerous threat to the enemy.
For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword … ~ Hebrews 4:12 AMPC
But we were created to do more than just fight. We are God’s workmanship, called to do the good works He planned in advance for us, (Ephesians 2:10). That reminds me of Nehemiah and the Jews who worked to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. As they worked, the enemy came against them. Because the opposition was so fierce, “[those] who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked,” (Nehemiah 4:17-18 NIV). That sounds like a rather clunky way to work. But if you are expected to be a warrior--defending yourself and your home--as well as a worker, you’d need to do both. Though the expectation is still there for us, it’s not as literal as this picture.
Most of us will not have to fight and work that way, but we’re still expected to do both. I think, at some point, we have all fallen into the trap of believing that spiritual warfare is for one season, and doing God’s work is for another. But the truth is, we are called to do them simultaneously. God gave us weapons for spiritual warfare so that we could fight and remain standing, while doing the work that God prepared for us.
Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that … you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ~ Ephesians 6:13 NIVUK
The Lord is your keeper: your guard, preserver, and Shepherd.
The Lord is your shade: as near as your shadow for your protection and
refreshment.
He’s on your right side: on your working side - providing skills, wisdom,
guidance, perseverance, strength, courage, determination, and
encouragement.
He’s on the side not carrying a shield: on your warfare side -
providing spiritual weapons, like the sword of the Spirit.
The Lord has positioned Himself to be near to you, providing everything you need, in every circumstance. Whatever you need today, receive it from Him and get moving!
©Heather Potts 2021
