Keep the Faith

The violence and hatred demonstrated last week in our country weigh heavily on my heart and spirit. With no other recourse than to look to the wisdom and life found in Scripture, I was led to Ephesians 6. In verses ten through seventeen, the apostle Paul encourages the church in Ephesus with a description of a soldier outfitted for battle.  By putting on every piece of armor, supplied by God Himself, we can stand firmly in our place and hold our ground, even when the ground is increasingly unsteady underneath us. 

This powerful image of a soldier evokes feelings of strength, readiness, and firm conviction. However, Paul’s admonition to “Be strong!” is quite different from “Just Do It.” These pieces of armor are not acquired or worn because of our own warrior-like strength. Rather, by being empowered through our union with Jesus, we allow His strength to strengthen us. Then we put on the armor He provides to us. With every article in place, we can stand our ground, stand firm, do all we need to do, and come out of every battle still standing.

Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].

Ephesians 6:16 (AMP)

Verse sixteen tells us to “Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith.” I do not take this to mean that the shield is preeminent over the other parts, but rather it is Paul’s instruction to lift the shield over our heads as a covering that will protect us from fiery assaults that come out of nowhere and are meant to destroy us.

Unfortunately, our world seems to be teeming with fiery assaults. The wicked one, our one true enemy, is fighting hard – his only mission is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). How practical and valuable is this shield of faith, that not merely deflects his missiles, but puts them out altogether.

It reminds me of my two oldest children, who were relegated to the third row of the minivan when their brother and sister came along. They would bicker and fuss, pushing boundaries and trying to gain the upper hand over each other to rule their row. Ultimately, one of them would yell, “Force Field!” This phrase evoked an imaginary wall that, although invisible, was impenetrable. I couldn’t say why they did not start with the force field engaged, but the first one to remember it and shout it out was that day’s winner.

The Shield of Faith is the believer’s Force Field. It is an invisible, impenetrable force that nullifies every spiritual attack. If we can keep the faith – keep our shield up – we can come out standing. But, honestly, sometimes the battle is too long, too hard, and we are too weary to hold up our shield. We see arrows flying all around us, we see our brothers and sisters falling under attack, and discouragement and hopelessness drag down our shield. The time to let your shield fall is not in the middle of the battle.

We can trust that there is nothing in God’s word that He tells us to do for which He has not already made provision. Here is what David said about God:

Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. Psalm 3:1-4 (NIV)

The Lord is my Strength and my [impenetrable] Shield; my heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped…  Psalm 28:7 (AMP)

When the shield gets too heavy, God Himself is our shield. He always equips us with what we need for the day of battle. No matter what your battlefield is, no matter what you are facing, keep the faith, dear brother and sister. Our God has conquered death, hell, and grave, and has won the victory for you and me!

And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished forever) in and unto victory. O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting? … But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (AMP)