Ephesians 6:16 AMP
16 Above all, lift up the [protective] [d]shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
A shield protects you from whatever the enemy throws at you. It covers you; it takes on the heat on your behalf. Out in the battlefield, sometimes the enemy would overwhelm you with a shower of arrows. The soldiers would put their shields one against the other all around and on top to protect themselves from the enemy arrows raining from all directions. Where the breastplate could not protect you, the shield could.
Every day, the enemy of our souls showers us with arrows that have the potential to take us out. Arrows of greed, lust, and immorality. Arrows of doubt and worry, covetousness and selfishness, and to protect ourselves from all this we need the shield of faith! Our mind becomes the battlefield where these great battles take place, no wonder Paul tells us to take every thought captive that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
Many times, we allow our feelings and emotions to take control and to lead us, and we expose ourselves to be hit by the enemy. Faith has got nothing to do with how we feel or what we can or cannot see. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
God tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please him! How then do we expect to win the war against the enemy of our souls if we are not walking in faith, taking God at His word?
We sometimes read the word and our lives are far from what is described in the bible. We read the promises of God and when we look at our life we don’t even get close. Those are the moments that the enemy begins to shoot arrows of doubt and self-pity towards us. Arrows that tell us we are not good enough and God does not love us. Arrows of doubt and being defeated. What do you do? Do you succumb to the hits, or do you pull out your shield of faith and declare that you are the righteousness of God? Do you run away scared, or do you stand to declare that all of God’s promised are yes and amen in Christ Jesus?
You and I have a choice to make, remember with nothing being thrown at you, your shield does not have much use but when the arrows start flying that’s when you need it the most!
Reflections
What are some of the arrows that the enemy has been throwing at you lately?
What strategy have you been employing to counter them?
Faith comes by hearing the word of God. How will you make it a priority in your life to always hear the voice of God?
