The Shield of Faith

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Ephesians 6:16

Notice that he did not say the shield of belief. We have already reminded ourselves of our belief when we recall that we have put on the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and our feet are fitted with the gospel of peace. That is our belief in what Christ is to us. But faith is more than that. Faith is acting upon belief. Faith is decision, action, resolution. Faith is saying, Yes, I believe Christ is the truth. He is my righteousness, he is my peace. Faith is working out the implications of belief. Faith is particularizing. It is taking the general truth and applying it to the specific situation and saying, If this be true, then this must follow. That is the shield of faith.

Have you learned how to take the shield of faith when doubts come? Do you say, Christ is the truth. Therefore, I cannot believe that Christ is the truth and that this thing is true, too. I have committed myself to Christ because I have been persuaded that he has demonstrated truth fully. I stand on that ground. Therefore I must reject this insinuation. Do you say these things? Our problem is that we have become so accustomed to believing our feelings as though they were facts. We never take them and look at them and ask, It this true? We simply say, I feel this way. Therefore it must be true. So many are defeated because they accept their feelings as facts.

Using the shield of faith means refusal to feel condemned or to feel guilty: God loves me. He says so. Nothing will change that. Nothing will separate us. Nothing I do or fail to do will separate us! I will believe that, and therefore I cannot believe this thought that God does not love me and want me.

This is what James calls resisting the devil (James 4:7b). This is refusing to believe the lie that if you have doubts you cannot have faith. That is a lie. Doubt is always an attack on faith. The fact that you have doubts proves that you have faith. They are not opposites at all. Therefore re-examine the ground of your faith and reassert it, and remember that feelings are not necessarily true at all. And James says that, if you keep on resisting the devil, he will flee from you (James 4:7c). Think of that! He will flee from you. You do it again and again every time the thought comes back. You resist it on that basis. You refuse to give up your position. Sooner or later, inevitably, the doubts will clear. Your feelings will change, the attacks will cease, and you will be back again in the sunshine of the love and joy of God.

Father, help me to be a person of faith, to realize that your word has brought to us the truth as it is in Jesus.