December 1

Ephesians 6:16 (NIV84) — 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.

It occurred to me when I was reading today that I only get stung or affected by the arrows when I am not standing in faith. The picture of course is one of arrows that are on fire from hell being shot at you. These arrows strike the shield and fall to the ground. In other words, they don’t penetrate you, but you know you were shot at. We all get arrows shot at us from all different directions, some more than others and some days are certainly worse than others, however if we are standing in faith, the arrows never reach our bodies (our soul). It is only when we don’t trust God for our everything that we are hit and wounded. When someone challenges your life with a stinging accusation and you stand in faith in His righteousness, then the arrow falls to the ground. When some kind of worry or anxiety tries to take over you, you stand in faith and trust God to take care of the concern. When you are rejected or shunned, you stand in faith with the surety of God’s unending love and its sufficiency. Of course there is a difference between the loving rebuke of our Father in Heaven and an arrow from hell. You may receive a reproof or some correction from God, but it will bring LIFE not a burning arrow that’s very purpose is to disable you. Stand if faith, trusting God for everything and just watch the arrows fizzle on the ground in front of you.