The Shield of Faith
In The Edges of His Ways, Amy Carmichael reminds us of a tremendous principle concerning fear and God’s ability to overcome it. She wrote, “The word used for shield signifies a great oblong shield, which covers the whole body. The dart mentioned in Ephesians 6:16 is the kind which when it strikes a hard object catches fire—‘taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.’
“The promise is that when the dart strikes the great shield of faith, though it is set on fire, it is quenched. It cannot pierce the shield of God. And it cannot burn the one who is standing firm behind the shield. The promise covers all manner of darts. The kind of dart hurled against us makes no difference to the promise. ‘All’ means all. Do we expect ‘all’ to mean all? Is there a secret fear in our hearts about a certain kind of temptation, which perhaps we shall not be able to overcome?
“Away with this fear! It is of the devil. The shield of faith is ready to be taken up and used. If you take it up and use it, not a single dart of any sort will pierce the armor of God. All means all.â€
In one of his last addresses to the student body of Toccoa Falls College, Dr. Forrest thought back over the years and said, “Thank God, the shadows of the valleys have always been swallowed up in the joys of His heights. Since Toccoa Falls is “the planting of the Lord,†no human planning can envision what God has planned for the future and its continuation. Thank God—it is His doing.â€
Your life is “His doing,†and He is the one who watches over you. Take up your shield, run to the front of the battle line, stand firm in your faith, and you will witness His victory!
Taken from the online devotion book Grace in The Wilderness © 2008 tfchistory.com