Spiritually Strong Series: The Shield of Faith

“Spiritually Strong Series: The Shield of Faith”
by Pastor Kent Munsey
November 15, 2020

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.

• Ephesians 6:10-20 (NIV)

When God begins to sanctify us and rid us of sin, it’s because he has a purpose and a plan. We are set apart. When we experience this kind of life change and transformation in Jesus, we have to recognize that there are going to be spiritual battles and storms in our lives that will require us to strengthen ourselves. 

Often we feel our spiritual fight is unfair; that we are always in the position of defending ourselves against the attack of the enemy. The enemy isn’t fair; he attacks every area of our life. But be encouraged that we are strong in the Lord, and he has given us spiritual weapons to fight back. We have the shield of faith that extinguishes the flaming arrows of the evil one. Faith in this context means trusting God when we don’t have answers. Often we focus on why we’re fighting the fight, but faith means trusting God in the fight when we don’t have answers. 

Some of the fiery arrows that the enemy attacks us with are: 

1. Fear and Insecurity

The apostle Paul had a thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12). Scripture says he prayed three times for the Lord to take it away. We don’t know what it was. Some say that he was dealing with insecurity because he didn’t have a strong physical stature. He also wasn’t a strong orator. But, he said in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that God’s power was made perfect in his weakness. 

One of the things that can weaken us spiritually is when we allow the flaming arrow of the enemy to make contact and cause pain. There is nothing worse than giving insecurity and fear free reign in our lives. Fear and insecurity are fiery arrows from the enemy that want to come into your life and weaken you spiritually. Often we look for miracles, but God looks for faith. When we are in a spiritual battle, we have to strengthen ourselves in the Lord and pick up the shield of faith and defend ourselves against the fiery darts of the enemy that would cause us to be insecure or have thoughts that don’t line up with what God believes about us. 

2. Doubt and Unbelief

Another example of the enemy’s fiery arrows in scripture is when John the Baptist was in prison. He had to pick up the shield of faith because the arrow of unbelief was fired at him. John the Baptist was a prophet who declared Jesus was the Messiah before anyone else recognized him, but the enemy nonetheless attacked him with doubt when he was vulnerable. The greatest prophet who ever lived was doubting because the enemy was focused on trying to weaken him. We have to engage in our own strength and development, which means we have to fight when we don’t have all the answers. These questions that we wrestle with and these fears and insecurities are a part of our spiritual development. 

3. Fear of Abandonment

A third example in scripture is Trophimus. He is mentioned as a servant and companion who accompanied Paul on a missionary journey but later was left behind because he was sick. Often there are circumstances in our lives that are unfavorable and unfair. None of us wants to be left behind or left out because of circumstances beyond our control. There are circumstances in all of our lives that we didn’t create, that we can’t control and that we have to live with. If we’re going to be spiritually strong, we’ve got to pick up the shield of faith and extinguish the fiery darts of the enemy, because they’re coming to weaken us spiritually. 

While we are picking up the shield of faith to fight out the fiery arrows of the enemy, we need to know three things: 

1. He created us. God formed us, named us, has given us talents and abilities, and he will never give us more than we can bear. He is developing us to become mighty people of faith. 

2. He has redeemed us. Not only is he our father, but he paid a price for us. He bankrupted heaven for us and paid the ultimate price. We can lift your shield of faith without worry. 

3. We are his. Not only are we made in the image of God and created in his likeness, but we have a heavenly Father who loves us. We are his. When we walk through the fire, we can trust him that we will not be burned (Isaiah 43:2). 

We may not know the answers to all our questions, but we have the answer to the most important question: that we have a father in heaven, and we are his. The Bible says all things work together for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. Jesus too had to lift the shield of faith and put out the fiery arrows of the enemy. Because of him, we can fight the good fight of faith.

Reflection/Discussion Questions:

1. What kind of fiery darts have you experienced coming from the enemy lately? 

2. What do you do when those arrows of fear, insecurity, or doubt are coming hard and fast? 

3. In what circumstances or part of your life do you think you may need to lift up your shield of faith, or use it more consistently?

4. What aspect of God, his love for you, or a promise in scripture will help you to flex your faith more so when you are under attack?