Faith... protecting us...

"In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one."

Ephesians 6:16

Our faith, as we are learning, serves so many wonderful purposes.  And one of those that we have not yet touched on is how it protects us.  A dear friend of mine pointed this out to me the other day, and so I feel it appropriate to cover this topic today.

I can only speak to this from one place, and that is from personal experience.  I will make no claims as to having seen it all or knowing the journey of another in this sense, so please bear with me.  However, I think you'll be able to look back over your growth as a Christian, after hearing the way I see it, and be able to more clearly discern where your shield of faith has been of the most use.

Picture for me the old Roman guard, with their full-body shields that were made of iron and steel.  The thing was heavy, and it protected them from head to toe on one side, the side they used to push through the battle lines and to their objective.  This shield was, for all intents and purposes, impenetrable at the time.  It was the greatest piece of equipment that any foot soldier carried in battle on the front lines.  Now imagine if that shield were fully encompassing on both sides, as welll as the top and bottom, and just as impenetrable... but weighed nothing!

Our shield of faith is just that, friends.  It is an impregnable bubble that encompasses us, body and soul, and does not slow us down, but rather aides us in moving more quickly and safely through life.  We have no reason to fear with this shield around us, as it is the very power of God that engulfed us when we accepted Christ as Savior!  And it does stop those arrows from attacking us full force... if it didn't, we would have all given up by now.  

The arrows tell us we're not good enough and that we don't deserve to be blessed and that we have no expectation of joy, and they are all aflame with the hatred of the enemy.  But they are extinguished as they approach, and their lies become easily seen and read for what they are... LIES!  Some portion of it sticks on occasion, at least for me, but I believe this happens because I allow an opening for it.  I think my own humanity and arrogance trick me into opening my shield every now and again, and the arrow (at least it's not a flaming one) comes through and burdens me briefly.  I overcome, as we all do, but I have to remain vigilant to keep my focus sharp and my shield up at all times for this purpose.  (Hopefully I'm not the only one this happens to...)

Take a moment today to focus on the placement and strength of your shield of faith, and reflect on how it has helped to steer you and guide you... and protect you!  I would bet that if you look retrospectively at all the accomplishments you have made in life, you will find that there have been assaults against you, but you overcame each time!  And sometimes the shield is so strong that you don't even notice the assault, because it doesn't compare to the power surrounding you from God Himself.  Recognize this, give glory to Whom it belongs, and honor the Lord in doing so!

God bless you all!!!