Today I heard my Lead Pastor, Scott Stevens, say something that resonated deep with my experience as we built up to the Easter weekend. He said, "I've never felt the weight of spiritual warfare like I did in the ten days leading up to Easter!"
In my new role, I had never really felt the weight of Easter like I did this past weekend. All kinds of crazy stuff was happening the couple weeks before Easter. Staff members were distracted by many things and were getting on each other's nerves. Sickness in my house a few days before I had to preach Good Friday services. Disagreements that blew up into full fledge arguments. Team members taking conversations the wrong way and out of context.
If you think about it, Satan would not be doing his job if he didn't try to wreak havoc in the lives of those that were planning Easter services. Steal. Kill. Destroy. Divide. His job description is to make Christian's lives miserable, and he will stop at nothing to hinder a person from hearing the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It only makes sense that we (the Church) would experience such spiritual warfare right before the most important day to our faith.
I expected the attack. It doesn't make it easy, but it helps when I can recognize it ahead of time. I was prepared this year. One of the ways I prepared was to have a faithful time in God's word through a reading plan throughout Lent provided by YouVersion. It was extremely helpful to have a focused plan that reminded me exactly what I was preparing for as I came towards Easter.
This kind of reading plan made me recognize that I should constantly be ready. Ephesians 6:11-13 says, "11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."
