The Shield of Faith, Continued

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. 

Ephesians 6:16-18

Saturday we examined the shield of faith as a defense against the fiery darts of the devil, his accusations, temptations, and falsehoods. Today let’s look at maintaining the shield of faith.

While the belt of truth, God’s Word, and the breastplate of righteousness, granted through the blood of Christ, are fully secured by God, much like the shoes of the gospel of peace must be laced up and tightened regularly, the shield of faith needs our attention to be well-maintained too.

Take a moment to think about a physical shield with me. A physical shield is traditionally made of metal, wood, or leather. Over time, without proper maintenance, metal rusts, wood rots, and leather decays.

The shield of faith is not made of metal or wood or leather. It is made of our trust in God. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

The strength and effectiveness of our shield of faith is dependent on our trust that God is real even though we cannot see Him, that He is good even when life doesn’t feel good. Over time, without proper maintenance, our faith can rust, rot, decay. We can began to trust what we can see, touch, and hear more than we trust our Almighty God.

So, how do we keep our shield of faith well-maintained?

• We ask God for greater faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that faith is a gift from God. When Jesus’ disciples were weak in their faith, they asked Jesus to increase it (Luke 17:5) and we know that those who ask, receive (Matthew 7:7.
• We spend consistent time in God’s Word. Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. When we read God’s Word, we read words that God has written to us. We also read the historical account of God’s faithfulness and goodness to His people throughout history.
• We pray, talking to and listening to God. Mark 11:24 instructs us that whatever we ask in prayer, we should believe that we have received it, and it will be ours. Faith is the evidence of things unseen, but God is gracious to grant us proof of His goodness and His love for us through comfort and peace and guidance received in prayer and through answered prayers, even those that are not answered as we would like (1 John 5:15).
• We obey God’s Word. Hebrews 11:4-7 tells us about the faith of Abel, Enoch, and Noah and how their obedience demonstrated their faith. Their obedience was rewarded by God showing that God values obedience motivated by faith (Hebrews 11:6; Matthew 6:33).

Beloved, these are the ways we keep the shield of faith free of rust, rot, or decay. When hard times come, ask for greater faith, stay in the Word, pray, and be obedient. When our prayers are answered with a “no” or a “not yet”, ask for greater faith, stay in the Word, keep praying, and keep obeying. God rewards the faithful and He is good to develop greater faith in us.

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