What is faith? You hear that word tossed around a lot. In our culture, it has really come to mean just a general sense of spirituality. The world would have you believe that the source of your faith doesn’t matter as much as how much faith you have in that source. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
According to Hebrews 11:1, faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Confidence & assurance — two things warriors desperately need in battle. Corrie Ten Boom described it beautifully with these words: “Faith is like radar that sees through the fog—the reality of things at a distance that the human eye cannot see.” I love that imagery!
Faith gives us spiritual eyes to witness God’s powerful hand at work, which builds our understanding of His character and grows our trust in Him so that when the Devil’s darts come our way, we can defend against them and extinguish their fire before they do damage.
So what arrows does Satan send your way? Doubt? Discouragement? Depression? Disillusionment? Denial? Deception? Division? Acknowledge your weak spots and shore up your defense in advance. When the arrow is in the air on its way toward your heart, that’s no time to think, “now where did I leave that shield??? I know it’s around here somewhere…” No, we take up the shield of faith in advance of the attack so we are prepared.
The type of shield that Paul wrote about in this passage was a large oblong shield with four corners. The name of the shield (“thyreos” or “thureon”) is derived from the word “thura” (meaning door). That provides a good visual, doesn’t it? Picture a wooden door covered with canvas and then with calf skin…add on some metal protections to reinforce the top and bottom edges as well as metal in the middle to add additional protection.
It was’t unusual at that time for the tip of the enemy’s arrows to be dipped in poison or be lit by fire to be more deadly. To combat the fiery arrows, the soldiers would soak the skins that covered their shield in water. When the flaming arrows became embedded in the shield, the soaked skin would douse the flame. That makes logical sense, doesn’t it.
Likewise, when we soak our shield of faith in Living Water (Jesus), we can douse the flame of the enemy’s arrows. Don’t just dip your faith in His water…let it sit and soak…allow His Living Water to infiltrate every area of your shield so you can effectively wield it.
So how do we do that? By staying in God’s Word daily and listening to His Spirit continually. By intentionally memorizing Scripture so that it transforms our minds. By praying throughout the day, engaging in relationship with God. When we abide in Him, He will give us the strength to face whatever circumstances surround us and move forward in faith, trusting His perfect character.
Given the materials used to construct these shields as well as the additional weight from soaking the skins in water, you can imagine how incredibly heavy they had to have been. You had to have some muscle to be able to effectively use the shield and hold it in place for the length of the battle.
The same is true for the shield of faith. We need to intentionally grow our faith muscles so that in the Lord’s strength, we can lift the shield against the barrage of flaming arrows headed our way. We see this exemplified in the lives of many of the people listed in Hebrews 11. They didn’t just believe — they acted in that belief.
Take Abraham, for example. He experienced several faith-building tests over many, many years—long before he had to lay Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice. Abraham knew that the God who had promised him a multitude of descendants through Isaac would not rescind on His Word. Abraham trusted that God would bring it about one way or another — even if He had to raise Isaac from the dead! Consider some of the actions Abraham took which both demonstrated and grew his faith: he left when God told him go, setting out for a foreign land and not even knowing where he was going. He also lived a nomadic type lifestyle — he and his family lived in tents as they roamed the land that was unfamiliar to them.
Or consider Noah…imagine spending over 100 years building an ark — on dry land when it had likely never even rained before! Each day, he continued his work on this massive structure — remember, it was equivalent to the length of 1.5 football fields! It was huge — it had to be in order to accommodate the preservation of life (Noah and his family along with two of each kind of animal) for an entire year. Others looking on likely thought he was crazy. I mean, why in the world would you ever need a boat that big? And built on land? How would it ever make it to water? A few years ago I saw a meme on social media about Noah that read “Sometimes faith will make you look stupid…until it starts to rain.” Isn’t that the truth? Because really living a life of faith does look ridiculous to an outsider.
Imagine Sarah preparing to have a son at 90-years-old — sewing baby clothes, nesting and making a place for him to sleep, etc. Perhaps she asked others for hand-me-downs she could use for him. People around her must have thought she had completely lost it. Even Sarah had her moments of doubt, but she worked through those with the Lord and believed by faith that He would fulfill His promise to her. Hebrews 11 is packed full of powerful examples of people acting in faith.
Generally speaking, these giants of the faith kept their eyes on the eternal life that awaited them, which made the challenges of this world fleeting. Do you live your life with an eternal perspective? When God doesn’t answer your prayers according to your plan or your timing, does your shield of faith begin to drop a little? Do Satan’s darts of doubt and discouragement find their target? If so, know that you’re not alone!
Be encouraged that even these faith giants had moments of faith failures. Remember when Abraham traveled into Egypt and claimed Sarah (his wife) was actually his sister because he feared for his own life? (He actually did that twice!) Or how about when Sarah convinced Abraham to sleep with her maidservant with the hope that she would get pregnant as a surrogate mother — that was a faith failure for both Sarah and Abraham.
Or remember when Jacob deceived his brother and father in order to attain the firstborn rights and blessings? Yep, faith failure. Or Moses when he struck the rock twice and took credit for what the Lord had provided? And yet Hebrews 11 commends these men and women for their remarkable faith.
Does that encourage you as much as it does me? Even when we fail to act in faith, God isn’t finished with us — praise the Lord for that truth! So if you find your shield of faith starting to drop, don’t grow discouraged…keep your eyes on the Lord and lean into His mighty power and strength to help you raise that shield and douse and deflect all the darts of the devil — not just some, but all!
Before we close today, here are a few Faith Facts to keep in mind:
1) People come to “faith in Jesus” by trusting in Him as their personal Savior; this is a one-time event; then people grow in faith by exercising it. When they experience God’s faithfulness to them, they trust Him more with their future.
2) The power of faith lies not in the amount of it, but in the source of it. A little bit of faith in a worthy source is far better than a lot of faith in something unworthy of your trust. For example, consider when someone walks a tight-rope. They may believe with all their heart that it will hold their weight, but that belief is only as powerful as the strength of the rope itself. If the rope is strong, it will hold them, even if they have doubts. Even the smallest seed of faith placed the eternal, living God — Jehovah Tsaba — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the Great I AM — if He is your source of faith, then you can stand strong and engage in the spiritual battle.
3) Without the shield of faith, you are vulnerable to attack, but with it in hand, you can boldly march forward in confidence to carry out God’s will for your life. Remember, your spiritual armor isn’t solid — you still have weak spots — so walk with the shield of faith held firmly in front of you.
4) At the time Paul wrote this passage in Ephesians, a soldier’s shield was designed to interconnect with other soldiers’ shields — forming a wall of protection for the soldiers taking cover. Really it’s the only piece of armor that has a community aspect to it. Saving faith is personal and individual, but living by faith grows stronger in community. So be sure you aren’t walking through this battle by yourself…get plugged into the body of Christ and share life with fellow believers.
5) Lastly, remember that the shield of faith is something you “take up” — it doesn’t just automatically appear in your hand, going in front of you wherever you go. It takes effort, energy, strength, and intentionality on your part. You have a responsibility to actively take hold of and raise the shield of faith.
So with all that in mind, prepare your shield by soaking in the Living Water, and then in the power of Christ, use the shield of Faith to engage in the spiritual battle before you. See what a difference it makes in your battles.
