The first three pieces of armor that we use in our struggle against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places are the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness (of Christ), and the Shoes of readiness given by the Gospel of Peace—if you're a Christian, they are already in place and were put on at salvation.
Let Truth guide your thinking.
Let His Righteousness protect and cover you.
And the Gospel of Peace, let it strengthen you to stand on what you know is true and go forth in bringing it to the ends of the earth.
Now that we've established the parts of the armor that are put on at salvation, we continue with the parts we must take up.
Let's talk about the shield of faith.
(Remember, of the whole armor there is only one offensive weapon, the sword. The rest are defensive and used to protect what we already have against the spiritual forces pulling us toward evil.)
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; Ephesians 6:16 ESV
In battle, a soldier's wooden shield was used to protect and ward off the enemy's fiery darts hurled at him from every direction. The strategy was to cause confusion, exposure, and vulnerability. If the soldier dropped the flaming shield or if it was burned up he would be an easy target. However, the soldiers developed a strategy of their own. They realized that if they wrapped the shield in leather and doused the leather in water right before battle, the fiery darts would be extinguished upon contact.
We also need a strategy of protection against the enemy's fiery darts. Paul exhorts us to take up the shield of faith. The Bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1). Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom 10:17); or the Message paraphrase, "Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to." In other words, faith begins where the will of God is known, so you can't have faith where you don't know what God has said.
We're called to have faith in what we do not see. For we live by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). Let's be honest, isn't it the opposite? Don't we usually depend on what we can see in order to live? I surely wrestle with this daily. Things like good health; and the meds (and supplements) it takes to get us or keep us there. We depend on ourselves, our family, friends, money, power, career—isn't it true that we look to such things as our shields of protection? If you want to know what God says, flip what the world says upside-down. The world says that seeing is believing, but Jesus said that those who believe without seeing are blessed.
Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging, therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried. (Oswald Chambers).
Even our faith comes from God and He allows trials to grow it. Unfortunately without trials faith is shallow. Shallow faith cannot withstand the fiery darts that the enemy hurls from every direction; destructive thoughts, feelings, lies, doubt, fear—definitely fear.
The shield does not come first and then faith follows. No, remember flip it upside-down, faith builds the shield.
[Oh Lord] put on your armor and take up your shield. Prepare for battle and come to my aid (Ps 35:2). God is our shield and faith gives us the confidence to hope in that. "Do not be afraid Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward"(Gen 15:1).
I've shared this before—fear is my struggle, add to it a dash of doubt and you have the results of a wrong view of God. I spent much of my life experiencing what I now recognize as a form of indoctrination; the secular view that there is no God of the Bible. In my childhood there was religion. My family didn't follow it "religiously" but it was woven into the fabric of not just our family but our culture.
Religion always brings condemnation.
By the time I was a teenager, I walked away from God because of a skewed lens which propelled me into trying to control everything in my life.
Control always brings fear.
When the inevitable difficulties of life come, especially difficulties that from a human perspective are impossible to navigate or resolve, generally the reality of God enters the room. However, oftentimes that can further skew our lens. Our view of reality is usually colored by our own perspective. That is why God is the only author of truth and ultimate reality; and He is totally trustworthy. However, don't be disillusioned by the notion that God's love for His creation is the key to a comfortable life and a ticket to heaven.
God gave His Son...let that sit for a moment—
He gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life—with Him. He tells us that He tarries wanting none to perish.
If you're waiting, what are you waiting for? Faith in itself isn't hopeful. We all have faith in something. Without God, there is no real hope. Faith in God brings hope and hope is the evidence of things not seen.
We were created by God for God. He is always pursuing us. My only regret is that I didn't open my heart to His pursuit much earlier in life. However, you must know that following God isn't easy. True faith brings with it world condemnation and the devil's schemes. Just saying the name Jesus, at the very least, causes strife. Christianity is not for the faint at heart. It is often mistaken as religion; it's not. It's a relationship with the living God and like any relationship, there is pursuing and cultivating and understanding. Sometimes, on our part, there is misunderstanding of who God really is.
Christianity is as much about unlearning as it is learning. I brought with me a lifetime of bad ideas about God, but God says that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord. He will use every bit of my life, and yours, to grow our faith, for His glory.
Faith is a shield against our bad thinking, against our tendency toward self reliance, against the world's indoctrination, and against the devil's schemes and flaming darts that he's constantly hurling at us.
We've put on our belt, our breastplate, and our shoes. We've taken up our shield; and next time, the helmet, the sword, and prayer.
Comments