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Are You Dressed in the Armor of God?
In episode #10 I am talking about two things – Sharing your testimony and putting on the Armor of God. I also share my own personal struggle with letting my guard down.
The Women’s Retreat I Didn’t Want To Go To
I recently attended a Women’s Conference in Branson Mo. (Keep reading to find out why I didn’t want to go.)
I had the privilege of listening to each speaker share their testimony. Each story was unique but there was a common theme throughout the weekend. Every single person spoke about anxiety or depression in one way or another.
The first speaker was Christian Artist, Mandisa. If you haven’t heard her story, I encourage you to check out her book – “Out of the Dark: My Journey Through the Shadows to Find God’s Joy” where she shares her journey through the shadows to find God’s Joy. I am not going to share her testimony, but I will tell you this – Just as her hit song “Overcomer” was topping the Contemporary Christian Music Charts, her friend for whom overcomer had been written passed away and Mandisa began to slip into a season of deep depression. But the story doesn’t end there! You will have to read or listen to her story to find out how God brought her into a season of Joy.
Relating
As I listened to her speak, I thought of so many who have struggled with anxiety and depression especially in the last couple of years with the pandemic placing many into a place of isolation.
Then that night as I sat in our room, I pondered all that had happened in my life in the last couple of weeks. I felt the Lord prompt me to make some notes and wondered if I was supposed to share it on the podcast. I didn’t particularly like that idea because well, that makes me vulnerable on a whole new level!
Then I remembered one of the scriptures from the message. Revelation 12:11 – “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” NKJV
I like the way the Passion Translation says it:
“They conquered him completely through the blood of the Lamb and the powerful word of his testimony.” TPT
We overcome even more when we share our testimony with others. And not only that, but we help others overcome as well. Your story can give hope to others who are going through what you have overcome.
My Testimony…
So, here I am to tell you about my most recent struggle with depression.
Now before I get started, I will say this has not been my only struggle with depression and definitely not the worst one. But that story is for another time.
This latest season came on gradually and I didn’t even realize it. I had been in a little bit of a funk just not motivated to do much. I dismissed it as being tired or lazy. Life had been busy and when I got home, I just didn’t want to do anything. Normal, right? Well, not so much for me. I knew I had things that needed to be done and I even wanted to “want to do them”, but I just didn’t. So, this rocked on for a few weeks.
The day I realized what was going on was a Saturday morning and my husband offered to take me to breakfast. Now, I absolutely love going out to eat breakfast. It is a special treat and one of my must-do’s when we go on a trip or vacation. When he asked me, my response was, “I do but I shouldn’t” WHAT?? That answer steamed from some self-esteem issues because I had been eating so much junk food lately (another sign of depression)
The Piercing Comment
Next came the breakthrough comment – “What’s wrong with you? You always like going to eat breakfast!” My husband had no idea that his comment broke through the layers of gunk on the outside and pierced the depths of my soul! “What IS wrong with me”, I thought? This isn’t like me at all!
Then I reflected over the last couple of weeks and realized I had been on a downhill path that was so gradual I hadn’t even noticed. The whole, not wanting to do anything, now made sense. I had been negative about some things and I actually was almost dreading the Women’s Retreat I just went to. That wasn’t like me at all either.
I tried to shake the feeling I had and even put on a smile and tried to have a good day.
Church
The next morning, I got ready for church as usual. As I sat on the pew with so many random thoughts going through my head, I realized I needed help getting rid of this oppression. I felt like a weighted blanket was covering me and I just couldn’t lift it off.
As I sat there and prayed, I could visually see what had happened. I could even point to the day it started. Without going into all the details, I can tell you I let my armor fall to the wayside. I had laid down my shield, took off my shoes and laid down my sword. I got comfortable and didn’t realize I was in the middle of the battle without my armor on.
But this day I knew I needed a battle buddy to help me get through. I needed someone who had their armor in place to pray over me. As I sat there during the song service, the tears began to fall down my cheeks. Each song spoke to my heart and prepared me for the message that was to come. We had an evangelist that day and he shared his testimony of being delivered from depression. Imagine that… The Lord knew exactly what I needed to hear that day!
Through the message the Lord reminded me He had not left me, and He would be my shield. He also reminded me that praise is one way to fight the battle.
The enemy had been throwing darts at me and I had let my guard down.
My Breakthrough Moment
I went up for prayer and I felt a shift take place. I left church that day differently than I came in. I still didn’t feel joyful, but I began praising God for the indescribable joy that was coming! During the next couple of days, the Lord continued a work in me and before I knew it, I was laughing again, and I had motivation to do things that I hadn’t wanted to do for a while.
Can You Relate?
I wonder how many of you are dealing with similar circumstances today.
- Do you feel like you’re driving in a rut that you just can’t get out of?
- Did you let your guard down at some point and the enemy came in and started lying to you?
- Did you forget to dress yourself in the Armor of God today?
If this is you… I want to share a prayer with you based on the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:11-18. Listen to the episode below or DOWNLOAD THE PRINTABLE.
You can download this prayer and save it to your phone or print it out and put it on your mirror. Place it where you will see it each morning and pray it over yourself as you start your day.
I want to encourage you to share YOUR testimony with someone. Whether it is a breakthrough from depression, a healing in your body, your salvation story, or a miraculous event that you have experienced. I challenge you to share it with at least one person this week. If you don’t feel like you have anyone you can share it with I would love to hear your story! You can send me a private message on facebook or instagram or shoot me an email at ministrysolutions4u@gmail.com.
Listen here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app:
Armor of God Prayer
Download this simple prayer to pray over yourself each morning! You can download to your phone or print it and place where you will see it as you get ready each morning.