Week Twenty-Three - Dig Your Heels In

Stubbornness is a trait that runs in my family.  My grandfather even had a sign on the wall above his place at the table that read, “Don’t confuse me with facts; my mind is made up.”  And he meant it!  Once he set himself on something, he dug his heels in. You weren’t going to dislodge him by debate.  It was better to let him come to it himself.

 

I don’t want to talk about stubbornness today, but I do want to talk about digging our heels in.  If you look at Ephesians 6, you will read about the armor of God.  If we fit ourselves with the whole armor, we will be able to withstand the evil day.  Boy, do we need that kind of armor right now!

 

We have truth to protect our loins, righteousness to guard our heart, peace for our feet, faith against the devil’s fiery darts, salvation as a constant for our mind, and our sword is the Word of God. Every day we need to don our armor because the war is real.

 

I want us to look at two ideas here.  One is our feet, and the other is the promise.  I don’t know where I heard it, but someone was explaining about the phrase, “feet shod.”  Apparently, Roman soldiers had special sandals for war.  They were equipped with cleats to help them stand their ground in battle.  This idea of digging in our heels applies here.  We are to stand fast, stand securely, and having done all, the Bible says, to stand.

 

It reminds me of the reply of the Three Hebrew Children in Daniel 3:16-18. 

^“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.  If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

These boys stood for what they believed.  They dug their heels in, and God honored them.

They weren’t just being stubborn for no reason; they were standing for truth.  Their feet were shod.  They were prepared.  Are we prepared to stand for truth?  Standing for truth should bring peace because it gives a clear line of right and wrong.

 

Let’s look now at the promise.  This blesses my heart.  Ephesians 6:16 says, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”  Do you see it?  It is there in that simple word, shall.  Ye SHALL be able.  The fiery darts are quenched by faith.  We are assured of victory.

 

1 John 4:4 and 5:4 say we overcome.  Not will or may, but overcome.  Matter of fact, 1 John 4:4 says, “have overcome.”  So, our victory is secure.  We can plant our feet in this promise.

 

We “shall be able.”  It is an emphatic statement—an absolute.  Satan’s darts will fall cold and lifeless as we stand prepared and defended by total faith.  Isn’t that amazing?  And standing is what we are to do.  To stand with the standard waving, ready to answer for the hope that lies within us, and to point others to that solid truth where they can stand as well.

 

So, here’s the thing.  Are our feet shod?  Are we standing in truth?  If worry, fear, hate, or anxiety are ruling in our hearts, we are unshod.  We are without cleats. 

 

Let’s dig our heels in a little deeper into the solid truth of God’s word and stand against Satan' darts by fervent prayer and in absolute faith.  We are assured of this promise—"ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”