For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

Planning a wedding draws out a variety of things — nerves, busyness, a myriad of details, appointments, checklists. All fantabulous things. Also with these things may come a need to be patient, frustration, discouragement, confusion, etc.

I heard a friend say just yesterday that “relationships, I think are one of the most important things about life, but also probably the hardest.” Would you agree with that? I certainly would. And nothing has taught me more about relationship, and its many facets, shapes, forms, dynamics, than this wedding planning season.

I met with a good friend a couple of weeks ago and she prompted me to remember Ephesians 6:12. She challenged me to recall this scripture moments of impatience or frustration or confusion; instead of leaping at the person in front of me, allowing all my mega-humanness to fire on them, remember this scripture and pray…

“Satan, I will not let you defeat me or cause me to sin by way of this person. I will not let you use them to discourage me, to burden me, to cause me to stumble, to forsake what I know is the God-honoring response here.”

How powerful is that to remember? Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It is not my sister, or my mom, or a stranger, it’s sin. Don’t give Satan a foothold.

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. Ephesians 4:26-27

We’re human, we become angry sometimes, it happens. But… Be angry, yet do not sin. I can be angry at the devil all day long, and trump him by responding to a difficult situation in a godly way, because I realize my fight is not with the actual person, but with sin and darkness.

I ask His Spirit inside me to quicken my attention in every instance, to help me be aware of what I’m truly wrestling with, and to give me the strength and faith to respond in a way that pleases God.