My son, Sam, played lacrosse for his high school this year. It was his first season to play the sport. He chose the position of goalie. Sam used to be a baseball catcher and the positions of goalie and catcher require similar skills. Even with his developed hand/eye coordination, he realized he had a lot to learn about the position. He had a good first season; however, there was great room for improvement.
Since the season ended, he has worked out to increase his strength and he has practiced in the backyard. We bought him his own set of goalie equipment so he could run drills. Today was the first game of the summer season. Sam had back to back games in the goal. I was amazed by how well he did. He succeeded because he had practiced and prepared before the season started. When the balls came at him, he was ready and was able to stop and block far more than he had done before.
As Christians, the Lord tells us we will have trouble in this life [John 16:33]. Just like Sam, we need to be alert and ready for the enemy coming after us [1 Peter 5:8]. We need to prepare in advance for what we may face. We prepare by spending time in the Word and committing it to memory, so when trouble comes, we battle it with scripture [Matthew 4:1-11]. When we resist the devil, he will flee [James 4:7].
If Sam waited until game day to prepare for the attack of balls coming his way, he would not have been successful and he possibly could have gotten injured while trying to defend the goal and himself.
We cannot wait until trouble comes our way to prepare. We must go to the Word and the Lord in prayer daily [Matthew 6:11]. When our time with the Lord becomes part of our daily routine, we cover ourselves with the full armor of God [Ephesians 6:11-18] and are able to stand against the devil victoriously.
Suit up, friends. There’s a battle coming and you need to be ready.