The Shield of Faith

As we continue to look at the equipment the Apostle Paul instructs us to put on for spiritual warfare, we read that we are to take up the Shield of Faith. Previously, we considered the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness and the gospel shoes that enable us to stand firm in the Christian faith. The Roman soldier would wear these items continuously. Beginning with the Shield of faith, the next three items were readily available, but not always in use.

Some pastors and teachers have used sports to illustrate the difference between putting on and taking up. A baseball player puts on the uniform, belt, and cleats. The player takes up a glove on defense, a helmet, and a bat on offense. We think of a shield as something that protects us from harm. We do not consider all the things God shelters us with until we are without them.

In the book of Job, Satan uses the idea of God putting a "hedge" of protection around Job as the basis for his accusation against him. He tells God that Job is only faithful because of the blessings--take away the blessings, and Job will curse God. Job 1:9-11.

In his "Through the Bible" commentary series, J. Vernon McGee gives us a list of helps God provides, that were taken from Job:

• Material substance--Prosperity is a gift of God. Satan took away Job's wealth.
• Loved ones--God blesses us with babies to cuddle, families to care about, and support. Satan took away Job's children in one day, seven sons, three daughters.
• Health--Physical and mental health are important; suicides often result from bad health. Satan was permitted to take away Job's health.
• The love and sympathy of a spouse--Job's wife did not support him through his struggles, instead encouraged him to curse God and die. A bad marriage is worse than singleness.
• Friends--We are blessed by friends who encourage us during difficult times. In Job's case, his friends gave miserable and advice and added to his suffering. Sometimes friends forsake us.
• Self-worth and dignity--Job felt worthless. Everything upon which he based his self-worth was gone. We find self-worth in God's love for us, John 3:16.
• The Justice of God--Job lost sense of confidence in God's justice and becomes critical and cynical. We need to remember that statements and actions done by people in the Bible are not necessarily true or right, we must take them in context. Not everything Job's "friends" said was true.
• The Love of God--Job lost sense of the love of God. He felt that there was a distance separating him from God, Jesus is the one who keeps us connected to the Father. 1 Timothy 2:5 says, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

Have you thought about how God has shielded you with similar helps or blessings? Many of us turn from our faith at the first sign of difficulty, but Job refused to curse God no matter how bad circumstances became. He did question God, and eventually God revealed himself to Job. Can you say, like Job, "I know my redeemer lives?" Job 19:25.

The Roman soldier had a shield that was the size of a small door. Before the men would go to battle, wives would tell their husbands to come back carrying their shields, not carried on their shields. When soldiers were killed in battle, the shields were used to transport the bodies.

The imagery in the passage is of the devil shooting fiery darts at the person, but the shield extinguishes them all, Ephesians 6:16. This causes me to think of Israel's Iron Dome. Our shield can make the enemy ineffective like Israeli technology detects incoming missiles and shoots them down before they ever reach their targets.

Sometimes we carry our faith, and sometimes faith carries us. Acknowledge your hedge of protection. If you lack faith, put your trust in Jesus and he will equip you. We need the shield of faith for spiritual warfare.