Having Done All, Stand: The Comma, The Period, and the Power of the Meantime

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“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

— Ephesians 6:13 (KJV)

The Punctuation Most Readers Miss

Many of us have read this scripture and, in a hurry to get to the armor itself, have skipped right over the punctuation that holds the whole verse together. In our rush, we have unconsciously read it as though it said:

“…having done all to stand.”

It can feel like there’s a comma after 'stand' that takes us straight into the next verses about the armor.

That is not what the verse states.

The Holy Spirit recently impressed upon my heart two small marks of punctuation that change everything:

A comma after “having done all,”
A period after “to stand.”

That period is not a pause. It is a destination.

It is an arrival.

It is a posture.

Many believers today are not in the middle of the fight. They are in the place of “to stand.” (Period.)

The Meantime

Recently, as I went through a long and difficult season, a struggle I wrote about in my previous 7-day devotional, “The Long Fight", my son and I talked about what to do in the meantime.

We trust God’s hand. We trust His deliverance. We trust that the manifestation of what He has promised is on its way.

But what do we do in the meantime?

The answer the Holy Spirit gave was simple, and it was staggering:

In the meantime, we stand.

After having done all… we stand.

Which naturally begs the question:

What is the “all” we are to have done before we arrive at stand?

Reading Ephesians the Way Paul Wrote It

To answer that, we need to look at the bigger picture. Paul didn’t write Ephesians 6:13 as a stand-alone verse. He wrote a letter addressed to “the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1).

The book is full of wisdom, but I want to highlight a key moment in Ephesians 4:17, where Paul starts teaching believers how to live. He urges them and us to:

No longer walk in the vanity of our minds,
Put off everything that belonged to the old man,
And be renewed in the spirit of our minds.

Paul keeps teaching through chapters 4 and 5, talking about how we speak, act, relate to others, and live with integrity in every area of life. He is building, teaching, and preparing them and us for what comes next.

Then he reaches Ephesians 6:10, which starts with a word that signals he’s wrapping up:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

Finally. In other words, after saying all of that…

Then in verse 11, Paul writes:

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

In verse 12, he explains who the real enemy is—not people, but principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places.

And then comes verse 13:

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

A Pause on the Word “Withstand”

Before we go further, I want to pause and look closely at one word: withstand.

In the Classical Greek, the word used here is anthistēmi (ἀνθίστημι). According to Bible Hub’s lexical study of the term, anthistēmi properly means to “take a complete stand against,” i.e., a “180-degree, contrary position”; (figuratively) to establish one’s position publicly by conspicuously “holding one’s ground,” i.e., refusing to be moved (“pushed back”).

Even more interesting, anthistēmi was a military term in classical Greek (used by Thucydides and others) that meant “to strongly resist an opponent” or “take a firm stand against.”

So, when Paul says “that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,” he is saying:

Refuse to be moved. Take a position 180 degrees contrary to the wiles of the devil. Stand your ground, unswervingly.

A Word on “Wiles”

The word 'wiles' in Ephesians 6:11 comes from the Greek 'methodeia,' which is where we get our English word 'method.' It means crafty schemes, calculated strategies, and deceitful plots. The enemy doesn’t attack randomly. He comes with carefully planned strategies meant to shake us and move us from our ground.

That’s why Paul tells us to withstand—to take a strong, unmoving, and completely opposite stance against every scheme the enemy has planned.

And how do we do that?

By putting on the whole armor of God.

The Difference Between Withstanding and Standing

Here is a fact I came across that captures it beautifully:

Withstanding is actively resisting the enemy during the attack.

Standing is holding your ground after the battle is over and before the victory has manifested.

Withstanding is the active fight: swinging your sword, raising your shield, and standing firm. Standing is what you do after the dust settles, when the attack is less intense, the noise is gone, and the pressure has eased, but the promise hasn’t appeared yet.

Standing is the meantime.

What Does “Stand” Actually Mean?

The Greek word for stand used here is histēmi, which means to set, to stand up, stand still, stand by, stand forth.

In other words:

SET YOURSELF.

Plant your feet. Fix your position. Don’t drift. Don’t retreat. Don’t retreat. Don’t renegotiate. You have done all. NOW STAND.

For the One in the Meantime

If you are reading this, and you have been fighting a long fight…

When you have put on the armor, resisted the enemy, prayed the prayers, declared the declarations, sown the seeds, held the line…

When you have done all…

Then hear what the Holy Spirit is saying:

STAND. (Period.)

Do not strive, scramble, or strain. Do not try to come up with a new strategy again and again.

Stand.

Hold your ground. Stay in your position. Refuse to move from your place of faith. The battle has now moved into the still space between the promise and its fulfillment. In that space, the right response is not panic. It is to be present, stand firm, and remain steady.

You have done all.

Now stand.

A Final Word

The comma matters.

The period matters.

Many believers are exhausted, not because they haven’t done the work, but because no one ever told them there is a place of arrival called “to stand.” They thought the Christian life was always about fighting, striving, and withstanding.

But Paul says there comes a moment when the doing is done. At that moment, the only remaining assignment is this:

Stand.

Your deliverance is on the way. Your manifestation is in motion. Your God is faithful.

And in the meantime?

You stand.

Coach

Kathryn