Fear Not, I AM Your Shield
Notes
Transcript
In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, we find this famous line, “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing them end them?” By “slings and arrows,” Hamlet is referring to the host of misfortunes and troubles life throws at us like stones from a sling or arrows from a bow. They don’t kill you outright, but as more and more of them hit you they eventually overcome you.
We have all been hit by these slings and arrows: In elementary school we felt the pain of being picked on and rejected. In middle school we were unjustly punished by a teacher. In high school we were dumped by our first love. As a young adult we were unfairly passed by because we were not “well connected.” In middle age, we see our dreams fade away as the limitations of age first strike us. As our senior years approach, death and sickness take away those we love. In our last years, everything we once had is lost, until life itself fades away.
The Bible speaks of “slings and arrows” as well. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we are told that the Devil hurls “flaming darts” at us. Many today are overcome with fear as they wait for the next misfortune to strike their lives.
If this is the way you feel, take heart, the Bible has a good word for you—God promises that He will be our shield. This promise was first given to Abraham. We find it in Genesis 15:1-6:
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
The first question we must answer is whether or not this promise is for us. Clearly, in the original context this promise was given only to Abraham and his heirs. Is it appropriate for Gentile Christians to apply this promise to themselves? The answer is YES! Paul writes this to the Galatian Christians:
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
If that were not clear enough, we read this in 2 Corinthians:
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
YES! YES! YES! If you have faith in Christ, God promises to be your shield!
So what does it mean for God to be your shield?
Let us think of what a shield does. In the battlefield a shield deflects the stones and arrows the enemy is throwing at you in order that they will not find their mark. In a sense they still “hit you” because your shield is an extension of yourself, but the shield takes the damage, rather than your body. I think this is a good way of thinking about what God is doing for us. Clearly, believers are not spared from being struck by all the outrageous arrows of life, the question is this, “will those slings and arrows destroy us or make a battle-hardened champions?” The answer from Scripture is that they will make us battle-hardened champions. James, the Lord’s brother, writes:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
What an encouraging picture this is. A green, rookie soldier will run away at the first shot, but a battle-harden champion will stand his or her ground.
Abraham and his wife Sarah faced many trials and temptations. They stumbled and fell many times. Their lives were a hard fought battle. In the context of Genesis 15, they were facing the heartache of a childless marriage, but God was their shield, and in the end, they were champions!
The key to their victory was faith in God; our passage ends with these words, “Abraham believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
What is God looking for when He recruits His army? He is looking for faith. Human wisdom tells us that we must prove our worth to God, we must be righteous before God will choose us, but that is not the way of God. God chooses us before we are righteous, while we are still sinners! Paul writes this:
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
Right now, because of the coronavirus, the Devil is throwing many outrageous slings and arrows at us. Already many are succumbing to this barrage, but you do not have to be one of them. Christ can be your shield. That is why He came, to take all the darts the Devil throws at us. Will you be like Abraham who believed God? If so, you will come out of this current challenge, in fact, all the challenges of life, as a victorious champion!
Let us pray.