The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God has given us spiritual armor with which to defend ourselves as well as spiritual weapons with which to fight back with. The third piece of armor is The Cleats of Peace (Ephesians 6:15)
We need the cleats of peace because Satan wants to steal our peace. John 10:10 says that Satan comes to steal and kill and destroy. And one of the things he loves to steal is our peace. Satan loves to get our minds focused on all that is wrong in the world (terrorist attacks, Isis, church shootings, the country in general moving further and further away from biblical values as evidence in the recent Supreme Court ruling concerning gay marriage, etc). Why does he want our minds consumed with things like these? Because when we fret over all that’s wrong we lose our peace.
A Roman soldier had a great advantage in battle because he had cleats on his sandals. After hours of warfare the battlefields were drenched in blood and someone could easily slip and fall. But a Roman soldier had sure footing, even when standing on a slippery surface.
Well, how can we be sure we don’t slip into the depths of despair in light of all the evil going on around us? By putting on the cleats of peace! That is, when we trust in God we maintain our peace. When we fret over all the evil going on around us, we lose our peace. Take a look at Psalm 37:1-3, “Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good…” The Bible is clear: God wants us to trust in Him, not fret over those who are evil. And the reason we’re not to fret is because all that is evil is temporary – like grass that soon withers, evil people will one day be gone. What happens to an ice cream cone in direct sunlight? It melts away right? God says “Don’t fret! Evil people will one day melt away!” Here’s what we’re trusting in as followers of Jesus: That though things are crazy in this world now, in the end God wins. When we trust him in the middle of the temporary mess the world’s in, we’ve put on the cleats of peace.