Faith

Ancient armies had two types of shields. A large shield was carried in one hand for full body protection. An army could huddle together and raise these shields over their heads as a defensive barrier when fiery arrows were falling from the sky. The shield carried in the other hand was smaller and used for hand-to-hand combat or personal safety when rocks were hurled from the top of city walls. For the believer, God is our shield.

It was difficult for her to grasp, much less believe. When you are well along in years and have no children, it is surprising for God to show up and promise you a son. So, when the woman who heard from God shared the news with her husband, he needed more proof. God revealed himself to Manoah in the form of an angel.

Your fiancé is pregnant, and you are not the father. One can only imagine the painful emotions one feels upon hearing that news. But this pregnancy was different. It took an angel and a vision to explain the unexplainable!

One writer captures our need to trust God when he writes, “You’re a soul made by God, made for God, and made to need God, which means you were not made to be self-sufficient.” Trusting in ourselves, our achievements, and our accomplishments is a losing proposition. Great men and women of God were people of faith. Abraham trusted God’s leading, even when he didn’t know where he was going.

Scripture’s call to faith is not an invitation to blind belief. An unsubstantiated belief system is what superstitions are made of. Rather, “faith is established upon coherent and consistent reasoning and upon empirical evidence. Peter writes, ‘For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty’ (2 Peter 1:16).”

There is a great story involving Jesus and his disciples that reminds us that even great men and women of God have times of doubt, especially when the storms kick up. Here’s the story from Matthew’s account of Jesus walking on the water and Peter giving it a try.

The armor of God includes a shield as an essential piece of equipment. This shield is needed to “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). The believer’s shield is not constructed with wood like the ones that the Roman soldiers carried. Our shield is built with faith.

Training and preparation produce confidence. An army moves assuredly when they have studied the enemy, understand the terrain, and are properly suited up. Battle readiness produces victory. To be battle ready we need the right gear. We have learned that the belt of truth allows us to move freely without stumbling. The breastplate of righteousness protects our heart and keep us on the right path. Today, let’s consider additional components of our battle gear—the shoes, the shield, and the helmet.

Have you read today’s newsfeed? The world has changed since you last scrolled through the news—division in government. Stocks are up and down—medical updates. Sports teams win and lose. Players get traded. A coach resigns, and another gets fired. Evil leaders attempt to expand their kingdoms by taking over another area. The world revolves around a twenty-four-hour cycle of change. What will happen next? No one is certain.