“In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” Ephesians 6:16 NLT
I grew up with a heavy dose of inferiority complex. When I am teased or insulting words are used on me, I would later repeat them when I’m alone, as if to convince myself they were right.
I was almost always moody because my atmosphere was made up of negativity. The irony is that I’ve always been a brilliant chap, so I would be among the top in my class and would always be placed in leadership positions. But that didn’t change anything.
Then, in my first year at the university, I gave my life to Christ, and things started changing. The first thing the Holy Spirit changed in me was my countenance. He did that by using the words in my mouth to change how I was treated.
He didn’t stop other people from trying to tease me or insult me. He stopped me from trying to make sense of what they said by changing the condition of my heart.
Whenever those flaming words flew at me, I already put up a shield that blocked them. Previously, those lies would burn through my heart and leave a residue. But now, they can’t stay in my atmosphere because they get extinguished in flight.
It took years for this to be my reality. But it puts into context how we have to constantly build up our faith so that, as a shield, it gradually gets strong enough to withstand the lies that the devil shoots at us.
How can we protect the work we do with this shield?
To hold up the shield of faith means we are sensitive enough to see the lies when they come at us. We are also alert enough to recognise that the lies are on fire, powerful enough to become our reality if we don’t counter them.
We are then equipped to hold up God’s word through our confessions. A shield is of no use if it always lies on the ground. It must be intentionally picked up and held up in the trajectory of the coming lie.
If an arrow comes from the left and you hold up your shield in the wrong direction, you will still get hit. So, this means we must use the part of God’s word specially created to battle the specific lie.
For example, if a competitor tells you that he’ll destroy your business, you hold up the shield of faith, declaring that God holds your right hand, so you have nothing to fear (Isaiah 41:12–13).
Always trying to hold up a shield can be tiring because lies come at every waking moment as we work. But the more we hold up the shield, the stronger our arms get, until one day it’ll be so effortless to get the shield up in split seconds. That’s growth!
“I will stay prepared to counter anything that discredits the assignment God has given me.”
To stay prepared, we have to know God’s word. I recently resumed memorising Bible verses because I realised that the more I know by heart, the easier it’ll be to remember and declare them when needed.
Determine how you want to stay prepared and ask for the discipline to see it through.
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