Fitted for Battle: Shield of Faith

 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” (Ephesians 6:16).

The Roman soldier without a shield faced certain death. Artisans uniquely constructed these shields with materials that protected most of the wearer’s body against arrows and darts, including the fiery ones. Those “darts” were not what we today would throw at a dartboard; they were a javelin-like weapon, dipped in oil and set on fire.

For the Christian, faith is our shield, our faith, and trust in Christ. God says He is our shield when we take refuge in Him (Proverbs 30:5). Our faith in God can extinguish the fiery darts of fear, lies, and accusations of our enemy (and fellow earth-walker). His minions will throw every shameful moment, weakness, and failure at us to make us think we are incompetent, useless, unworthy, unloved, and without hope. He wants to stop us dead in our tracks, defeat us in our Christian walk. Our faith-shield, when worn correctly, can and will extinguish those darts.

Imagine yourself as you face a battle, and your shield is needed. You reach deeply for your faith, take hold of it, and raise it. But are you fully protected? The size of your faith determines the extent of your life’s protection. You risk deathly exposer to the enemy’s cunning tactics if your faith is small, like the size of a book. How do you gain a full-sized body protector? As you continually feed on God’s Word and learn to depend on and trust your Father more, your faith increases. God is your shield. He covers you as much as your faith allows.

Faith believes in God. Faith believes God is and will do what He says He will do without visual proof. Only then will you be able to go forth confidently and victoriously in His name, as His cherished child. Soldier of the Lord, as you grow in faith, your shield’s covering increases. (Tomorrow, the helmet of salvation.)