Faith Challenge:

Holding Up the Shield of Faith

Once again, I am nose-deep in another book by Beth Moore and my spirit has been stirred as she talks about faith and "Believing God". I sit here reading this evening and I am quickened by the truth that so many of us ("us" - meaning myself included!) as Christians believe IN God without actually BELIEVING GOD; and that there are so many promises and so much power available to us as Christians if we were to only grab a hold of our shield of faith and raise it high in the confidence that God is Great, and He is OUR Great Deliverer, the Author of the Story that is Our lives. He is waiting with p ower from on high - waiting for us to walk in the victory that has been won for us through the death of His Son, Jesus.

I'd like to share with you an excerpt from Beth's book entitled "Believing God" in which she describes the importance of faith in fighting our battles and going forward in victory...

Among the strategically prescribed pieces of armor the King James Version (KJV) tells us, "Above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked" (v.16). Why "above all" do we need to learn to use our shield of faith? Because the shield is the  armor's armor. The ancient warrior hoped the fiery dart never reached the helmet or the breastplate. A direct hit on any of the other defensive covers could still stun and bruise even if it didn't wound. The warrior's goal was to extinguish any oncoming dart with his shield in order to diffuse all potential damage. When the warriors shield was down, the other pieces of armor were vastly more vulnerable. The same is true for our warfare. Our toughest battles will invariably concern matters of faith - times when we're tempted to think God's word and His ways won't work for us, that He has abandoned us, let us down, or failed to come through for us. If Satan can get us to drop our shield of faith, he knows we can't remain standing for very long.

Firsts have great importance in Scripture. Do you know the first recorded words that ever came out of the Serpent's mouth?

"Did God really say...?" (Gen. 3:1)

He used the spade of deceit to sow doubt. Satan, posing as the serpent, couldn't keep Eve from believing in God so he did the next best thing. He baited her, tempting Eve not to believe God or trust His motives. Her walk was crippled, her doubt was contagious,and the couple lost the land God had placed under their feet. You see, when Eve dropped her shield of faith, every other piece of spiritual armor became vulnerable. Satan knew she wouldn't remain standing for long. When she fell, she fell hard. I know the feeling. 

"Above all" you and I need to learn to take up our shield of faith. We also desperately need to know the Word of God and wield up the Sword of the Spirit so that when the enemy slyly suggests "Did God really say...?" we can know the answer emphatically. When we respond to attacks of doubt, distortion, and deceit with the truth of God's Word, the fiery dart is extinguished and the enemy takes another hit"
(Believing God; Beth Moore; pgs 26-27)

So obviously, we are not living in the Garden of Eden today, and our own particular battle does not involve a fruit tree. However, we do share the same enemy, and he is still in the business of trying to knock us down with the fiercest of darts. So what do they look like? They are different for all of us, yet really the same. Our fiery darts are aimed at the areas of our lives where the enemy knows we are weakest, that one spot in our shield that maybe was hit once before, or where our arms are getting tired and we are holding it up with the last bit of strength we have left in us. And we are beginning to doubt that God really is who He said He was, able to do what He said He would do.

My heart aches when I think of what those darts look like in the lives of my friends, family, and my fellow sisters and brothers in Christ. I'm sure so many of us can relate to what they are - Empty Cradles, Broken Homes, Unexpected Lay-Offs, Insufficient Funds, Positive CT Scans, Depression, Anxiety, Addiction. They are so ugly, and yet all too familiar to so many of us. Too often I have felt the angry force as one of them or another knocked my own shield down, causing me to fall to the ground - my faith shattered, my fight gone. Asking God "why", or thinking to myself "is He really going to supply all my needs? Because I don't see any way out of this one!"

But I am here to tell you today that there really is victory in and through the blood of Christ our Saviour. And I have learned that putting your faith in God can transform the story of your life from one that is broken and defeated to one that is beautiful and exuberant! God just requires that we hand the pen of our lives to Him, and trust Him to do what only he can - take our chicken scratch, nursery rhyme life stories and turn them into a Shakespearean classic, written in the finest of penmanship. That's the business of our Lord - trading beauty for ashes, sorrow and shame for the joy of the Lord.

So here is your challenge - and it may be for only one person - I don't know. But I truly believe that this message is for someone. If you are going through a battle, the darts have beaten your shield so low that you are struggling to stop yourself from falling...Friend, it is time to get your shield back up in the air!! High - not of your own strength - but out of the power that has been provided for you as a Victorious Soldier in the Mightiest of Armies.

In "Believing God", Beth outlines a pledge of faith that I am challenging you to memorize as an act of faith and a means of strengthening the power of your shield. There are five statements and I am challenging you to memorize one a week for the next five weeks. Beth has dedicated a chapter of her book to each individual statement, and so I am committing to walk beside you for the next five weeks with tidbits from the book that I believe will help you on your journey to complete and total surrender to God's faithful provision.

The pledge is as follows:

1. God is who He says He is
2. God can do what He says He can do
3. I am who God says I am
4. I can do all things through Christ
5. God's word is alive and active in me

Of course, these statements, in and of themselves have no power. They are simply truths brought forth by a woman who has proven God's faithfulness over and over, through the darkest of battles and the fiercest of fiery darts. Your greatest power will come from the Word of God - and so the other challenge is to find a promise - be it a scripture verse, particular psalm, or section of scripture that speaks to your heart or is applicable to your situation and memorize it. Write it on your heart. WRITE IT ON YOUR SHIELD!! When Jesus was tempted in the desert, it was the Word of God that He used to ward off the temptations of the enemy. Three times He fought back with the following statement "It is written...". Let's follow His example and use the Sword of the Word to fight back against the enemy's angry darts!

After a lifetime of wishing, hoping, and longing, I have finally enrolled myself in some formal online Biblical Training. My first course is a study of Genesis. It's funny how stories that you have read over and over, and learned in Sunday School can suddenly shout something you had never even realized was there before...this happened for me in the story of Abraham and Sarah. After waiting a lifetime for a child, Sarah had pretty much given up on the idea of having one of her own. It's really no wonder that when she was well past the childbearing age that she laughed when the Lord told Abraham that in the next year they would receive a son. God responded to her laughter with a question..."is anything too difficult for the Lord?". Just as he had promised, in the next year Sarah became mother to a bouncing baby boy, and her words were as follows: "God has made laughter for me, everyone who hears will laugh with me". Somehow I get the feeling that Sarah's laughter was a little more genuine the second time around. Sarah may have doubted - but Abraham was faithful! He held tight to his shield of faith, and God honored his faith by giving him and Sarah the object of their heart's desire - a child! Abraham and Sarah named their boy 'Isaac' - guess what the name means..."He laughs". Sarah never forgot how God turned her snickering laughter of doubt into an overwhelming laughter of joy.

Where are you in your battle my friend? Do you laugh at the thought that God could possibly show up now and turn your losing battle into a victory? My prayer for you is that you will take hold of the shield of faith and claim victory over the fiery darts of the enemy - so that one day you will be able to say like Sarah - "God has made laughter for me" - and when I hear your story I promise to laugh along with you.

Love and Prayers,

Tammy JOY!!