Day 11: Fearless

The Right Words

Do you ever find yourself searching for the right words to explain your walk of faith, or worrying about how your beliefs might be received? Paul asks the believers to pray that God would give him "the right words" so he can boldly explain the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles. This highlights the importance of speaking the truth of the Gospel with clarity and boldness, especially in the face of opposition. What a comfort that, through prayer, we can receive the right words to explain the mystery of our faith.

How do you explain the peace, strength, hope, and joy you find through Christ?

Consider this painting.

Karlee Lillywhite painted this watercolor portrait titled Safe. She writes:

Followers of Jesus are not promised freedom from harm or affliction, but rather freedom from fear and despair. The woman in this painting is spiritually safe although she is physically wounded. Rather than depicting her protection through objects of leather and steel, it is a wreath of flowers that guards her mind and extinguishes the “flaming arrows of the evil one.

Using the traditional symbolic language of flowers, each plant represents a different piece of the armor described in Ephesians 6:10-20. White chrysanthemums for the Belt of Truth, thyme for the Helmet of Salvation, orange blossoms for the Breastplate of Righteousness, chamomile for the Shoes of Peace, sage for the Sword of the Spirit, and wallflowers for the Shield of Faith. Their fragility and tender beauty depict how God chooses "the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27).

In our passage from Ephesians, Paul mentions that he is in chains at the time of writing this letter, likely referring to his imprisonment for preaching the Gospel. Yet, he states "God's Word isn't in chains," emphasizing that even in the face of persecution, the truth of the Gospel cannot be restrained or suppressed. Karlee continues:

Though the figure is safe from the golden spiritual arrows that assail her, a physical arrow has left a wound in her heart. Jesus was a man of sorrows, and his followers are assured similar fates of danger and pain in this life; as his mother Mary was told, "a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:35). Emulating the vulnerable strength of her flower-armor, the figure in the painting knows a peace that ‘transcends all understanding’ (Philippians 4:7) and smiles serenely at the wound that she bears. As Peter warns, she is not "surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come...as though something strange were happening" (1 Peter 4:12).

These verses are part of the larger passage (Ephesians 6:10-20) in which the apostle Paul encourages believers in the church of Ephesus to put on the metaphorical full armor of God in order to stand firm against the devil's attacks. In a Roman world mostly united against them, the odds must have seemed staggering! Karlee discusses a “paradoxical victory”:

The Spirit of God moves about her in the form of a wind and a golden laurel wreath crowns her with paradoxical victory. Jesus’s triumph over death and decay lay in his willingness to submit to all the pain, danger and vulnerability of being human. This victory is not only symbolized by the empty tomb, but also by the broken and bleeding body of our crucified God. This paradoxical reality, which is exemplified in the Armor of God, empowers us with the hope that when forces of darkness attempt to destroy, God is working a glorious victory in and through the pain they cause.

How has Jesus healed and supported you in the wounds and burdens of this life?

If you drew a picture of your own spiritual armor, how would you represent it? Tough or delicate? Tear-stained or triumphant?

If you add God to the picture, how do you draw Him? Where is He standing?

Do you have a different understanding of the armor of God from this reading plan?

We hope this Plan has encouraged you. Explore more resources from Engage Art.