How Can Faith be a Shield?

Did you know every person has an element of faith? It is part of our human makeup, our conscious mind, if you will. It’s how we were created. We can have faith in animate and inanimate objects. For example, you may have faith in your spouse, children, pastor, or friends. Another type of faith is when you sit in a chair – you have faith the chair will hold you. So what is faith? Webster’s definition includes words like allegiance, fidelity, sincerity of intentions, belief, trust, and strong conviction. But there is a faith that goes way beyond the physical. It is something ethereal and supernatural. Hebrews 11:1 describes it as, “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This is how we believe in God, Whom we do not physically see, but know He is there. Without this faith it is impossible to even believe there is a God, let alone please Him, “…for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb. 11:6)

However, is this faith something we muster-up ourselves? Scripture tells us God gave each one a measure of faith and set eternity in our hearts, because He loves us with an everlasting love (Romans 12:3; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Jeremiah. 31:3). Since God's word is true, the question is, do we believe the clear evidence for God’s presence?

Gaze into the vast and glorious heavens, notice the delicate intricacies of a flower, and observe the astounding way our human bodies work. Will you reject the obvious and chalk it all up to science and evolution?

If we do the latter, we squelch the faith God placed in our heart. Then, when trouble comes like fiery darts and we hear the lies of the enemy and this degenerate world, we have no shield and nothing to stop the bombardment. Pelted and weary, our measure of faith ebbs from our soul. With the thought we’re ok, because we’re not as bad as the next person, the enemy shoots his fatal dart and we succumb.

But, faith in the one true and living God is like a shield. If we choose to believe, repent of our sin and receive His free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, Almighty God becomes our Shield and our exceedingly great reward (Psalm 18:30; Genesis 15:1).

Ephesians 6:16 tells us, “Above all take faith as your shield…” With it, our God will help our unbelief and strengthen us to quench all the fiery darts that come our way.