Don't Forget Your Helmet
I have been cultivating the practice of stillness. I wish I could say this was a natural inclination for me, but it is not. Even with all the encouragement, teaching, and personal experience of my need for stillness, I often fail at its practice. My natural inclination is to start my day with a mind full of my responsibilities and a wondering how will I accomplish all that is before me. However, as I have learned over and over again, beginning my day with that mindset only creates a chronic anxiousness and hurriedness of spirit. Love is far from me and I have reduced my precious day, one that I will never be able to repeat, into a day of tasks and one that looks very little like the abundant life we are called to live in Jesus.
Stillness helps this overactive mind to consider the eternal again. My life is not to be built on the busyness of a temporal world but rather with a mindset towards the eternal. A mindset towards the work of God here and now that will ripple into eternity. People are at the heart of that work of God. People are the only things that last for eternity. People are the greatest creation of God and who are most loved. The daily practice of stillness helps me to put my mind on the people of my life and not the tasks of my day. I need the daily recalibration of my mind.
When I consider the “helmet of salvation” written in Ephesians 6:17 as the last piece of armor in the armor of God, I think about the protection a helmet gives to the head. The helmet is the last piece of protection a soldier, athlete, or driver place on their body before they start their endeavor. The helmet signals they are ready to begin. They are prepared. The head is protected which when protected, the rest of the body is protected. The armor of God is given to us to protect us from “the schemes of the devil”. What greater piece of armor is the helmet! When my mind is protected in the truth of what God says about me and who He is, I am able to withstand the lies that the devil wants to tell me.
· When I am overwhelmed with worry, God tells me to “cast my cares upon Him”.
I Peter 5:7
· When I am dwelling on the regrets of yesterday, God reminds me that He has separated my sins “as far as the east is from the west”.
Psalm 103:12
· When I feel alone or rejected, God tells me “I am with you, wherever you go”.
Matthew 28:20
· When this world seems out of control and I am fearful, God reminds me that “greater is He that is in me than that is in the world”.
I John 4:4
But all those truths will not be able to penetrate a mind that is busy, distracted, and distant from God and His word. So, I must put on the helmet of salvation that saves me daily from the lies of the evil one and a life that has extraordinarily little power or influence for His kingdom’s sake.
As I write these words, I am at my parents’ home caring for my dad who has end stage Parkinson’s Disease. He is almost 90 years old and during our stay we have been saturating ourselves in his wonderful life and its impact on so many as a pediatric doctor and community leader. Even though he is almost 90, it still seems too short. Life seems incredibly short and goes by so fast. I have been convicted to practice stillness that I may give each day back to God as a gift of gratitude. To live the life, I want to consider worthy of His love for me, I must daily put on my helmet of salvation and live prepared, armed with His truth and empowered by His love.
Are you ready? Are you prepared? Will you put on the full armor and live courageously for His kingdom and His work? That is a daily question we must all answer.
May we answer it well.
Blessings to you all.
Mary Quillin is a city-girl-turned-country-girl in her new life in North Dakota. She has been married to her hubby for 16 years and has 3 wonderfully, different kids who have begun their teen years (and she would appreciate all the prayers as possible on that note). After many years in full time ministry, Mary is learning how to show up and daily discover the journey of being available for whatever Jesus leads her to. She spends her days trying to build a welcoming shabby chic home in the heartland of North Dakota while learning to write and run.