God’s Armor: The Shield of Faith
By Shauna Leis
“In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
Ephesians 6:16 NIV
Something about armor has always intrigued me and held my interest. Quite possibly it was all of those romantic movies and stories where the knight in shining armor rescued the fair maiden from her evil captor and they lived happily ever after. Or maybe it was the idea of our military and the protection and safety that it represents. However, my most recent encounter with armor was actually in Pigeon Forge, TN just a while ago.
While vacationing there on an annual marriage retreat with our church, my husband and I received a free set of tickets to go play laser tag, an adventure that we had not shared together since early in our dating years. We had an absolute blast battling for the galactic good against an army of 7 to 9 year olds! The most interesting thing about the experience was the point at which you were “shot” by one of the enemy. Lights on your laser vest would begin flashing and the vest would speak to you and say “Shields Up”. You then had 6 seconds where you were protected by your shields and no one else could shoot you. This gave you the opportunity to run off to find a safer spot for your next attack. At the end of 6 seconds, the voice would then inform you “Shields Down”. At that point, you were once again vulnerable to the attack of the enemy.
The experience so reminded of the verse in Ephesians above that describes our “spiritual” shields of faith. How many times have I been under attack by my enemy and heard the Holy Spirit whisper in my ear, “Sweet Child of God, Shields Up”. Now, I wish I could commit to you that I was smart enough in each instance to run for cover and wait in safety for my shields to come back down. But, there were times, just like my adventure in laser tag, that I would stand ignorantly in the same spot and get shot again as my shields were coming back down. But, as my faith has matured, hopefully my intelligence has also improved, because I now start to recognize when my enemy is near and attempting to get to me with his “flaming arrows”.
Our enemy is so very smart and so very cunning. He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt what arrows will be effective against us. I believe that is why God provides us with this shield of faith because He knows that it is only through our faith and trust in Him, that we will be able to stand against our enemies. Precious One, God is the only one that can extinguish those flaming arrows of our enemy. In verse 12 of that same chapter in Ephesians it states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” After hearing that, are you not glad that it is our faith in the Almighty God in Heaven that can fight against the powers that are described in verse 12? I would not want to be caught alone fighting against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. I know in my heart and soul that My God will protect me from the evil one.
Pray with me: El Shaddai, You are our Almighty God, all sufficient and all powerful. You provide us with the shield of faith that can protect us from the onslaught of the enemy – the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. I cannot stand against them alone, and am very thankful that I do not have to because I have You standing with me as my guard.
My prayer is that You will wrap me in Your arms of safety as I seek to do Your will in my life and bring You all of the honor, and glory, and praise that is due to You. As my spiritual maturity continues, I earnestly hope that the times my shield of faith goes up against an attack will prove me running for cover until my strength returns to fight again. You are such an awesome God and I love You beyond measure! We pray all of this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.