The Shield

by Terry W. Benton

In all the armor of God, there is a piece of protection called “the shield of faith” with which “you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:15). That is a powerful thing to have and use. Another way of saying that is, “nothing Satan tries to throw at you is more powerful than the shield of faith that God has given you.”

Now, here is the thing. If you lay down your faith shield every time a problem comes along, then Satan wins every time. He gets to you, discourages, disheartens, and defeats you. You have to see what is coming and hold the shield of faith up; when you do, you are never defeated. You learn the value of lifting the shield into place. The shield is composed of faith in God, faith that He is with you and that He is greater than all the evil forces. Don’t lay the shield aside when problems come at you. That is the very time to pick it up and use it.

Consider the times David picked up the shield of faith to protect him from the many dangers and attacks of evil people with evil motives. We can also think of when he put his shield aside in the Bathsheba and Uriah incident. It does not work when you put it aside and forget it. It works when you put your faith shield in front of you, and we have to be ready to use it before the darts of temptation and trial hit us. Are you daily practicing to skillfully lift the shield of faith so that you are no easy target? Listen to David in his moments of using the shield!

"But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill" (Psalms 3:3-4).

"For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield" (Psalms 5:12).

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies" (Psalms 18:2-3).

"As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him" (Psalms 18:30).

The difference between us and David may come down to which one of us actually picked up the shield of faith and used it when the fiery dart was slung toward us. Did we use the shield? We are not promised a problem-free life here. We are given powerful armor to deal with whatever comes at us. Learn quickly to use the shield. Pick it up and face your new day with confidence that this shield will work for you today and every day you train yourself to use it!