Shield: Ephesians 6:16
Photo by Bogdan Kupriets on Unsplash
There was a time when a shield was a common household object. In your little one-story, one-bedroom home, you had your water jug, your firewood, your flints, your pottery…and your spear and your shield. Those were violent times perhaps.
The Spartan mothers would tell their boys headed out to war, "Come back with your shield or on it." In other words, don't be that coward that throws down his shield in the face of danger and runs away. Make a stand, and either win or die trying.” Ok, mom!
Though we are not from that time ourselves, let’s imagine where or how one carries a shield. When there is trouble, the shield goes out in front of you. And in the letter to the Ephesian churches, Paul wrote this sentence: “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 ESV).
What do you use to defend yourself from attacks, temptations, bitterness, doubt, self-accusation (which is not the same as conscience conviction), and fear? You use faith in God.
Faith is not wishful thinking, hoping that it will all turn out ok. And it is not psychological self-manipulation, convincing yourself that everything will be fine. And it is not assertiveness training, believing hard enough so that God will do what you tell him to do. (That would be putting your faith in yourself.) Rather, faith is trust in an object or person based on past performance. Christian faith is believing God will remain true to his character (which is what we call faithfulness). It's why we have so many stories in the Bible, historical episodes recounting the character of God. They are meant to give insight into what God might do in the present.
So the shield of faith defends you. You think of all God has done for us in Jesus Christ. All he accomplished in raising Jesus from the dead. All the love he has shown over the course of your life. All of the providence. He has been faithful. And you lift up that faith-shield and thrust it out in front of you and absorb all those attacks, temptations, bitterness, doubt, self-accusation, and fear. Faith in God.
The shield goes in front of you. Faith goes in front of you. Not just hope-so, but faith in God. In other words, God goes in front of you. He has always been in front of his children. He planned for us and set our course and equipped us with gifts and experiences and instruction. And then he works by his power and providence out in front of us. "In all circumstances," the shield goes in front of you, faith goes in front of you, God goes in front of you. You go right ahead and follow behind God into those attacks. He's big enough to absorb them. He’s the Christian’s shield.