The Shield of Faith

We are to take up the shield of faith, by which we can extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16). Now faith is oftentimes misunderstood. It is relying on the promises of God (Romans 4:16-25; Hebrews 11:13-16; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8). It is not believing in the face of intellectual arguments. These must be dealt with when they arise. But in the face of circumstances, feelings, and desires. Whatever we believe intellectually, it is difficult to maintain faith in God when going through tough times. I have found that the most helpful thing to do here is to look to the cross, where I see God loves me (Romans 5:6-11; John 3:16-18 ; 1 John 4:9,10). Also, even if there are no difficult circumstances, feelings tend to come and go, and when we are feeling down or dry, it can result in our struggling with our faith. Once more, it is good to fix our faith on the fact of Christ and what He has done, rather than our current feelings (Hebrews 12:1,2; Philippians 3:12-14; 2 Timothy 2:8). And sometimes, when we want to do what is wrong, we let our faith go weak so we can have our desire. In this case we need to confess and turn away from the sin we wish to do (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9; Psalm 19:12,13). Therefore, is is important to nurture and build our faith so it may be strong when it is tested (Proverbs 3:5,6; Romans 10:17; Hebrews 10:19-25).