Soak your Shield

In summing up his letter to the Ephesian Church Paul writes in Ephesians 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”

From social media to the news media we have arrows being shot at us from all sides. And there are so many voices shouting and screaming at us we really don’t know what is true. Some of it I am sure is true. Some of it sadly is not. And a good deal of what we’re being told has a measure of truth in it. How do we stand when all these ‘fiery darts’ are being flung at us?

I have read that Roman Soldiers, whom Paul was alluding to in his letter, had shields that were covered with animal hide. Leather if you will. They would soak them in water before going into battle because the enemy would dip their arrows in a tar mixture before going to war. The tar mixture would be by its natural composition be loaded with bacteria. They would set the arrows aflame before they shot them. Which is what Paul is calling ‘fiery darts’. If an arrow did not kill you outright a small wound or burn would allow the bacteria to enter your body and set up an infection. They did not have antibiotics in those days so any flesh wound could eventually cause death by infection. The solution was to coat their shields in water so that the burning arrows would be extinguished when they hit the soldier’s shield.

Why am I sharing this? Because our enemies, (the world, the flesh, and the devil), are firing their arrows of fear, confusion, doubt, and despair at us right now. Our enemy Satan wants to paralyze us so that he might rob us of our peace and joy in Christ. Look back at our verse again. Paul says, ‘above all’. First and foremost, we must take up our shield of faith in Christ. Trusting Him in all of this. Listening to Him for the truth we must live by. Reading His word, praying, believing in His goodness. Sharing His salvation with others. When our focus is on Him our fear lifts like yesterday morning’s fog.

Soak your shield of faith in these verses. Psalm 27:13-14 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. ¹⁴  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

In Him,

Steve