In every situation take the shield of faith and with it you will be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Ephesians 6:16
In hand-to-hand combat, the shield is king. For without it, one’s weak spots are exposed to the enemy, severely reducing her capacity to fight well. If I had a choice between a gun or shield, I choose the shield. For what use is the gun if my enemy can take me out in a second because of lack of protection? With a shield I can hide behind it, waiting until my enemy tires or runs out of ammunition or I can use it to advance, secured against harm, towards my enemy. Best of all, the shield's protection gives me confidence, which frees me to think and act more clearly in the heat of battle.
What happens if my shield is knocked out of my hands during battle? I hope that I swiftly pick it back up in order not to miss a step in fighting the good fight. But what to do if I am badly wounded and unable to get to my shield? That’s a toughie because when feeling bad, I am inclined to curl up and ask to be left alone. However, I know that my best hope of getting out of the battle alive is to put my big girl panties on and cry out for help. I am also gonna need swallow my pride and ask a fellow soldier if she would share the protection of her shield with me until I can get mine back.
Sometimes we get hit and totally blindsided to the point that it rattles our faith. I am talking about the kind of rattling that leaves us unable to even hear the Name without flinching. The kind that darkens and covers our soul in such apathy and exhaustion that we can not even lift our heads to pray to the One we love. The kind where we secretly want nothing to do with the Church.
If you read the last paragraph with tears or a lump in your throat, know this was written for you. Your reading of this is not coincidence, for you are passionately loved and were never meant to be let go. Use whatever energy you have left to do two things:
- Lay face down with your arms open wide and out loud pray " Maker of heaven and earth! Restore my faith! I believe! but help my unbelief!"
- Enlist a faithful prayer warrior who will share her shield of faith to stand with you and over you. And who will storm heaven with prayers until you receive your shield back. Together pick a verse for you to meditate on night and day. This verse will be your hope, your rallying cry and your praise for the coming restoration.
Try it. I know it works. I stake my life on it.
