Happy Tuesday, My Friend!
Today, I want to share with you a message I wish I could claim as my own. As one of my friends from the writing group I’m in always says when a fellow writer shares a story she really likes, “The only thing I don’t like about it is that I didn’t write it!” In fact, you could say that God Himself wrote this through the hand of Paul the Apostle, and then it was so eloquently interpreted by a woman named Tara-Leigh Cobble. Ain’t no way I can top that trio, so I’ll just pass along a really great message.
So, I’ve been doing a Bible reading plan this year (and half of last, to be honest) called The Bible Recap. In it, you read through the entire Bible in one year. Well, let’s just say it’s taking me longer. Let’s face it, some days, it just didn’t get done. But—I’m almost done! Just in time to start over again on January 1st! Anyway, each day you read (or listen to) a few chapters of the Bible, then Tara-Leigh Cobble takes about seven minutes and summarizes what you read. She is hilarious, knowledgeable, and really explains things well. Even when it seems like you’re just reading a list of names and who begat whom . . . she’ll pull out important stuff. (I highly recommend using this plan if you’ve ever wanted to read through the Bible in a year. This is my first time doing so, and now I want to do it again.)
OK, so let’s get to that good message. It’s from the book of Ephesians. Specifically, chapter 6, verses 10 through 20. Maybe you’re familiar with it—it’s where we hear about “the armor of God.” Here’s a link to it if you want to read it.
Just the other day, I was at this part in the Bible Recap plan. I’d read this passage a bunch of times before, so I was familiar with the “full armor of God.” The cliff-notes version is that God provides us with spiritual armor to fight against the evil in the world. There’s a piece of armor for our head, and for every part of our body, clear down to our feet. But wait, there’s more! God doesn’t leave our hands empty; He provides a shield and the “sword of the Spirit”—that is, the Bible!
What Tara-Leigh pointed out—and I had never thought of this before—every part of our bodies was given cover to protect us. There was just one part that was left uncovered, unprotected.
Our back.
Wait a minute! What? Are you sure, Tara-Leigh? Let me go look again… hmmmmm… there’s a helmet for our heads, naturally. Every fighter needs a helmet. There’s a special belt buckle around our waists to protect our vulnerable bellies. Add in the breastplate to cover up our precious hearts, that’s a given. And we even get special shoes for our feet to keep us ready! Huh, she’s right—our backs are exposed!
Hold on! She went on to explain that, in those days, when warriors were in battle, they would often stand with their backs to one another, giving literal meaning to the phrase, “I’ve got your back!” It brought to mind a scene from the movie Gladiator, where all the “barbarians” were on the colosseum floor, waiting for their enemies to come out and hunt them down. It was a pretty gruesome scene, but, hey, we humans can be pretty horrible in real life. Maximus says to his fellow gladiators, “Whatever comes out of these gates, we’ve got a better chance of survival if we work together.” They all stood with their backs together and their shields in front of them, impermeable to the “slings and arrows” their enemies hurled at them. Spoiler: They kick the bad guys’ proverbial and literal butts!
I love that! Not bloody movie scenes, but the idea of someone having my back, and me watching out for those that I love in return. Pity the one who does not have that, whose back is not protected from the slings and arrows that life can throw at us. (OK, now I’ve quoted God, Paul, Tara-Leigh Cobble, and Shakespeare.)
Recently, I was with a group of friends I’ve known for many years. We raised our kids together and now share stories about our grandchildren. One of the women was in a difficult situation. She broke down in tears and asked if we’d pray for her. We did so right then and there. Her tears continued, so we surrounded her and hugged her, got her Kleenex, and told her it was going to be alright.
We had her back.
Oh, my friend, what about you? Do you have your armor on? God has given us the tools we need to help protect ourselves from the dark forces out there. He’s given us His Word to keep us on the right path, He’s given us His Son to save us from ourselves. And He’s given us each other so we can have each other’s backs.
If you’re looking for someone to have your back, you can count on me.
Written with love – – – Patti XOXO