Do you feel beaten up? Has the enemy been sending fiery darts your way?
Man, he has been working overtime on me.
I realized recently that my Shield of Faith wasn’t up, wasn’t defending me against the very vulnerabilities that the enemy knows about me. Arrows were penetrating every part of me.
But…(one of the best words in the Bible), The LORD is SO faithful! He whispered to me in a moment of lamenting and tears, when I was asking why.
He said, “what part of your armor is being attacked right now, my daughter?”
Ohhh…yeah.
You see, back in my dating years, the Lord taught me the great importance of the breastplate. The armor that would protect my heart. I had experienced the pain of what it felt like to wander through relationships with no protection over my heart. But then I began to wear the Breastplate of Righteousness with a NEW truth that my heart was again strong and had been healed.
So then the enemy began to go for the next most obvious target: my head. I went through one of the darkest seasons of my life, a season I wouldn’t wish for anyone to experience, a season of anxious thoughts and despair. The Lord then began to teach me how important the helmet was to protect my thought life. And I began to wear the Helmet of Salvation, walking in the NEW truth that I can never be snatched from God’s hands.
So now it seems, I am in a season of learning that a new battle begins full throttle when the enemy has caught me with my shield down. When I have grown weary and tired and instead of running to my Source of Strength, I lay down and just let the arrows fly. I begin to doubt and to forget what the battle is really about.
Ephesians 6 says, “ABOVE ALL, take up your shield of faith.” I had never noticed those two words in this passage before now. Faith is truly the most important part of the armor. Those arrows will hit from every direction. Your marriage, your job, your friendships, your confidence in Christ, your identity in Him. Arrows at every angle. Everything feels threatened. Everything is being hit.
This was the Lord’s recent whisper to my faith affliction:
“Put up your shield, Daughter. The enemy has targeted YOU. You are a threat as my dear child and you have been ratting him out lately. You speak the truth to others and you tell them about the enemy’s strategy. You’re onto him and he’s onto you. But WE will have victory my sweet, because I have already overcome. Have FAITH in ME. Put up that Shield. And remember: The battle is MINE.”
My mentor Janet used to say, “this spiritual life is a battle ship, this is not a cruise ship.” Boy was she right! There’s no time to hit pause on the spiritual warfare of life and eat burgers and hot dogs until we groan. No time to hit snooze and pop a Dramamine. This is a battle ship. And it’s kind of exciting, isn’t it? We are part of something BIG that God could do without us but he invites us to soldier on WITH Him. So let’s get to it. The enemy thinks he will win, but Jesus already won. And while we are at it, let’s tell others about the battle, about how it’s really gonna end, and let’s help them put on the armor, too. We’ve got work to do. And it’s going to be EPIC.
Ephesians 6:16,
“Above all, take the shield of faith with which you will be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”