Psalm 18:34d  
The shield of faith
    Remember that we are visiting the armour described by Paul in Ephesians 6. And now we come to that mighty shield, sturdy and strong, ready to repel the sharpest of enemy arrows. “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith,” writes John in his first Epistle chapter 5:4. If the shoes of God’s gospel of peace fill us with confidence for the terrain ahead, the shield of faith allows us to press on knowing that with God on our side we are invincible. Nothing can get through, no enemy weapon can harm us, we can attempt anything in God’s name knowing that we will be safe. Remember, the battle is spiritual, it is against the powers of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil. The deeper into the affray we venture, the darker and more dangerous will be the foe, but our shield will keep us safe. There is no point in even joining the troops unless we have faith, unless our trust in our Commander is absolute. Notice that He trains our hands for battle, faith is a growing characteristic of the Christian soldier, the Lord is training us and His training camps are tough; it is not unusual for our forces to appear to be in retreat but we will prevail, the cause cannot be lost, Christ has already won the war! Faith means that we trust in the right Commander, the right long-term strategy, the right tactics, the right weapons and the right cause. If you want to know what this means, read Romans 8:31-39 and discover that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord. Hallelujah! So, the arrows come thick and fast, arrows of accusation, trouble, hardship, persecution but the men and women of faith have no fears for their trust in Almighty God is complete. Even if everything around is going wrong they know that the Lord will prevail, that faith will carry them through, that beyond this valley of conflict are green pastures and still waters. 

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