Shield of Faith

Ephesians 6:16

In faith we allow our confidence in the character of God to outweigh our reading of the circumstances. We don't know how God will do what He has promised... we only know that he will.

Faith does not deny doubts... it just keeps them away from our face and douses the flame. In faith we can examine our honest doubts, questions and concerns without fear.

Walk by Faith

Working out with Coach Walker.

Theological discussions… while sprinting.

“Walk by faith, Jono!” “Walk by faith, not by sight!”

“How does that apply right now?”

Blind Obstinacy

What does this word mean? Faith.

Believing something so strongly it becomes true?

Willing something to be so. To be true. Cosmic wish fulfillment!

Faith is to be sure of what you hope for and the evidence of things unseen.

Shield of Faith

Ephesians 6:13-16

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

What is Faith

Definition in story

Hebrews 11

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

…

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

Tell the story. Walking up the mountain. Knowing God’s promise, the years of waiting for it, more than a decade of waiting for it. The miraculous fulfillment of that promise. 13 years of joyful living in that promise. Seeing Isaac grow strong and healthy.

And then the commandment: “sacrifice your son, Isaac, upon the mountain.”

Walking up that mountain. Slowly. I imagine him looking for the out at every moment, holding these two horrible things in tension.

God gave me my son in fulfillment of his promise, and my son will bless the nations.

God commanded me to sacrifice my son upon the altar.

Those are conflicting statements. He has to wonder, did I hear right back in Ur? Did I hear that messenger right? Did I misinterpret? Misunderstand? What about this latest message, was that right?

19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

He was WRONG!

He had found his own way, his own expectation of how God would resolve the tension. And if we talk about the faith he had in the way things we would go, he was dead wrong! What was the faith of Abraham?

Unshakable faith in the Promise of God. Unshakable faith in the character of God behind that promise.

The faith of Abraham took what he knew about God and use that to hold what he didn’t know in tension.

The Shield

4 foot by 2 foot wooden curved shield. Covers the whole body. Covered in leather, soaked in water.

Arrows, dipped in pitch and set on fire would be shot. The fear of the spreading, splashing pitch would cause soldiers to ditch their shields, then leaving them vulnerable to spearmen or more arrows. But the wet shield held up, held in turtle formation, would catch the arrows and the pitch would be quickly doused upon the wet leather.

Soldiers did not pretend the arrows were coming. They did not pretend the arrows were not in fire. They saw them coming in detail, but holding up the shield allowed them to hold those arrows away from their face.

Spiritual Warfare

Circumstances we don’t understand. Life throws us a curveball. Tragedy. Unknown future. Surprises.

Anytime we encounter the unknown. Anytime our tidy understanding of God and his universe is challenged.

The question, the doubt, the fear comes sailing in. Danger, unknown, flying at my face. And I think this is the extra spiritual part, our enemy adds the pitch and fire. The darts: the questions, the moments, the crises, the doubts, all that would come anyway. Added to that is the splashing and spreading fire and the fire is what leads us to panic. To throw away our shields because they are ON FIRE!!!

To throw away what we know in fear, in panic at what we don’t know.

To abandon our faith in the person of God because we do not understand all the ways of God.

To abandon our faith in the promises of God because we do not understand the how, or the why… or the when.

To abandon our faith because of our fear.

Put On the Shield of Faith

Instead, take up the shield of faith that you may extinguish the darts of the evil one.

You do that by taking what is known to hold in tension what is unknown.

You have to know things. And as you discover more things about God, you rebuild your faith. Your shield gets bigger, sturdier, stronger.