How do you begin YOUR day? Most of us have a zillion things we need to do today, and even as we rush to get ready for work or get the kids off to school (or both!), we are making mental of lists of what needs to be done and when we can get to it. Far too often, we jump right into our busy lives without taking time to use the tools God has given us to help our lives go smoother and better.

Without being properly armed, our day can begin to go downhill very rapidly. For instance, having our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” gives us the tools to stand firm and respond peacefully and in a Godly manner to provocation. How often have we instead been drawn into arguments and responded with harshness and hostility instead of peacefulness? Our feet slip and slide because we didn't have our feet shod with the tool God provided for us.

If we have not put on the girdle of truth, we are easy prey for those who lie to us and about us. We have no weapon at hand to combat their destructive words, and they can absolutely ruin our day. And if we haven't picked up our shield, we are vulnerable to all the attacks they enemy throws at us. We suffer wounds because we didn't have our shield to protect us.

God even provides us with not just five defensive weapons to defend ourselves from attacks by our enemy, He also provides us with two offensive weapons, to take the initiative in the daily battles that come at us. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, with which we can inflict fatal wounds. When we know what the Bible says, we can not only defend ourselves from Satan's attack, but can deliver the death blow to all his lies and schemes. And prayer is the most powerful weapon we have in any battle. When we pray, we are inviting God into the situation, to fight with us and for us. Prayer is like calling in the calvary: God himself will step in to fight our battles.

So we have the tools we need to take on the challenges of our daily life, but what good do they do us if we don't pick them up until bedtime? That's like reaching for the gun after the battle is over! We should make it a point to begin every day by spending a little time with the Lord, and putting on the armor that He has provided for us. It's worth it to arm ourselves for the day, even if we have to get up a little earlier to make it happen.

Don't misunderstand me here: if the ONLY possible time you have to spend some quiet time alone with God is late at night, then by all means do so! Please don't consider this a condemnation - Spend time with the Lord whenever you can! However, it is much to our own benefit when we seek God early rather than later. May we learn to seek to seek Him as David did: early in the morning, before our day gets too wild and busy for us to seek Him at all!