Lesson 18: The Shield of Faith, part 2

Ephesians 6:16 - In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

The second thing about the Shield of Faith is that no one else can have this faith for me. It can only be taken up by ME.

Just as we learned with the other pieces of armor, the truth is that I am the only one who can do this for me. That is why Paul says, "take up." It is a command to take up, to lift up in order to use (not stare at or ponder about later), to carry, to cause to go up. You must place your faith in God and His Word in the midst of the temptation and thrust it up, the shield of faith, to keep yourself from going down in flames! Each believer must choose to believe God's Word, His goodness, no matter what happens when the enemy comes with his flaming arrows every day! He throws 50 arrows at you in a day, you thrust up the shield 50 times a day. He hits you with them 50 times in an hour. You raise up the shield 50 times an hour. And you do not stop because the enemy never stops!


There is nothing clearer to indicate that we have fallen to the schemes of the devil than when we begin to complain about our lot in life. Again, and again, the Word of God shows us that the mark of a Christian who has learned how to be a Christian, a mature Christian, is one who rejoices in everything and gives thanks in all things. This does not mean that God expects us to enjoy every circumstance in our lives! Nor does it mean that we should merely pretend to rejoice in everything. No! There is nothing uglier than a forced fake smile that people put on, or the false attitude they assume, in the midst of difficulties because they think it is the Christian thing to do. Rather, the truth of Scripture is that it is genuinely possible to rejoice even through our tears and pain, and there is nothing more that indicates that we have failed to understand what it means to be a Christian, than a whining, complaining, self-pitying attitude toward what happens to us. This is where the devil attacks. This is his nature. He gets us to think something unusual is happening to us. No one has ever gone through what we are going through. No one has had to undergo the depression of spirit we feel. But Paul says, 'No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability...' (1 Corinthians 10:13). He has given you His armor!

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." There is no other way to handle the devil's attacks. There is no other solution to these basic human problems. What we have done is tossed the shield aside when we are whining and complaining and are holding up a shield of our own vain and foolish imagination.