The Shield of Faith

Read: Matthew 17:14-21

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. (Eph. 6:16)

Let’s say we have withstood an initial assault of the enemy. Give God the glory, but don’t be surprised. Our God has well-equipped us. The golfer Lee Trevino, when one of his high soaring drives was admired by a spectator, said, “What did you expect from the U.S. Open champion, a ground ball?”

But let’s not be overconfident either. Sometimes we do hit ground balls off the tee. The enemy is constantly testing our defenses, probing for our weaknesses. We may have resisted him once and made him flee from us (James 4:7), but make no mistake, he’ll be back.

Shields in the Roman world were as tall as the man himself and offered full body protection. In the most vivid image of the metaphor, Paul says the evil one doesn’t just shoot at us, he does so with flaming arrows. What are these arrows? Well, there’s doubt, for one. When bad things happen to us or others, it can cause us to question the goodness, mercy, care, and protection of our loving Father.

But the Enemy has other missiles, well suited to each person’s susceptibilities—arrows such as fear, temptation, and guilt. As Paul says, “we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11 KJV). Yet he also assures us that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

As you pray, ask God to strengthen the shield of your faith.