The Doorpost: The shield of faith

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

To understand this scripture, we must first clearly understand our shield. This verse is the only place in the entire New Testament where the word “shield” is used. However, it is used many times in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms. In Psalm 3:3: “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” In Psalm 5:12: “For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.”

God is our shield. And He is not a small shield that we must frantically move around to desperately try to protect ourselves from all the flaming arrows. He surrounds us. We don’t have to worry about any of them reaching us.

What about the times in life when it may appear to us that one of the arrows has gotten through? That’s where the shield of our faith in God becomes the most important. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). “ … for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

When one of the enemy’s flaming arrows appears to have penetrated our shield, we know that it couldn’t have gotten that far if God had not allowed it. That means that the arrow is no longer from the enemy. It is from our loving Father Who surrounds us and protects us, and He is using it for our good.

When we recognize and believe that this is true, we have taken up the shield of faith and we can move through life confidently. We can know that we are protected from anything that the enemy can shoot at us, and that all things will work for our good as children of God.