Stand Up and Declare
She is a five-year-old, going on twenty. She is a diva blended with a tomboy topped with an artist who is also a practical joker, public speaker, and fashionista. Who is clumsy and bossy like her mother.
And yesterday was one of her greatest moments.
We were at a playground and Shelby was one of about a dozen kids playing together. Some of the boys decided to play "humans and monsters," which of course is a game only a boy would create. These three boys, including my son, were the "monsters," made up of a skeleton, a vampire, and a zombie. They ran around yelling and howling like monsters, pretending to eat any of the "humans," mostly girls, who touched the ground. It was hilarious. Most all of the kids were having a blast.
Except for Shelby. (Did I mention that she also marches to the beat of her own drummer?) I could tell by the look on her face that she was not amused or interested. She yelled to me, "I don't want to play this." I called back, "Fine. Tell them."
I fully expected her to just come sit on the swing next to me until the foolishness died down. I was wonderfully surprised. Instead, she walked right up to the biggest boy, the vampire monster, and said with authority:
"I'm not playing, so don't chase me."
He nodded his head in understanding and walked away.
At first I was amused and a little proud. But then I found myself fighting tears, praying that this statement would become her standard response for the rest of her life. Asking God to give her the courage to face her fear, or at least the human representation of it. Begging the Holy Spirit to mark her life with these words, not only for playground games but for LIFE:
So when her girlfriends start gossiping and bullying, she tells them, "I'm not playing, so don't chase me."
And when a guy wants to date her for all the wrong reasons, she tells him, "I'm not playing, so don't chase me."
When she goes to a party and sees that there are so many people who do not respect their minds and bodies and God enough to stay completely away from drugs and alcohol, she looks at the temptation and says, "I'm not playing, so don't chase me."
When society whispers in her ear that she's not pretty enough, smart enough, sexy enough, or skinny enough, she looks at the altered images and says, "I'm not playing, so don't chase me."
When she realizes that she is not like everyone else and sometimes finds herself alone, either physically or emotionally, that she looks even into her own self-pitied soul and says, "I'm not playing, so don't chase me."
Only one thing can give her the confidence and courage to look fear, temptation, doubt, and worldliness in the eye and tell it to back off: knowing that her strength comes from God alone.
The HCSB translates Ephesians 6:10-13 this way:
"Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand."
But the Message brings it alive in a different way:
"And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet."
Shelby won't always believe she can look her biggest threat in the eye and tell it what to do. But God can. And He alone will give her the strength not just to face her fears but to STAND. Hallelujah; this is truth. And I pray she believes it. I pray I believe it. I pray you believe it.
So after I composed myself and was able to praise God for a little girl who just jolted my own faith back to believing that I, too, could find all the strength I need in God alone, I went back to watching the kids on the playground. And I saw Shelby, her arm around a little girl who was afraid of the monsters, telling her, "You don't have to play. Tell them to stop."
Oh sweet friends, that's my message to you today. Believe me when I tell you: taking a stand isn't easy. But you're not standing in your own power; you have God's.
You don't have to play. Tell them to stop.
In Jesus' name.
[I wrote an entire series on Ephesians 6 a while ago. Start here and work your way up!]
@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
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