‘Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.’ Ephesians 6:16.
‘Above all’ – Paul immediately places particular importance on this next item. The writer of Hebrews defines faith as ‘the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ (Hebrews 11:1) and adds that ‘without faith it is impossible to please [God]’ (Hebrews 11:6).
Faith can be hard to differentiate from hope, trust, and belief, as all four entail conviction in things that can’t be seen or which are otherwise intangible, and yet they are different from each other. Belief is the foundation of the other three. It is a sound confidence and understanding that something is true. Trust is the belief that something or someone will meet our needs in the way we expect them to. Hope is the belief that something good will happen or get better in our future.
Faith is the belief that something or someone has the capacity to do whatever is required, even before there's evidence. That is why we say ‘I have faith in you’ when someone is trying something for the first time, not ‘I have trust in you’, which sounds like we need them to come through for us personally, or ‘I have hope in you’, which sounds like we think they’ll get better in the future but are actually lacking in some way now. Faith is living like we have proof before we have proof. Actually, faith stands in place of proof. That's why the writer of Hebrews says it is evidence.
That is also why it pleases God so much when we have faith in him, because it's a demonstration that we believe in him so much that we don’t insist on evidence of what he is doing or going to do. We trust he is doing it even when doubt rises. Faith also demonstrates a loyal allegiance or faithfulness with him. It leads us to pick a side. We can’t have faith in God and faith in Satan at the same time.
Paul says that faith acts as a shield and that it protects us not just from one or two darts, but all of them. These darts are described as ‘fiery’. Things that are on fire burn and spread, causing deeper and longer-lasting damage. But through faith, we are saved from all such spiritual and emotional damage. When we place our faith in God, he comes through for us in big ways.
Satan attacks our faith by causing us to doubt God. He makes us question if he really is doing anything, why he is taking so long, and if he really has our best interests at heart. Such thoughts seem innocent at first but can end up crippling our faith and then our identity. It is by raising the shield of faith that we are able to withstand all such attacks.
However, we also need something to protect our minds from unhelpful thoughts. It’s to the helmet of salvation that we turn to next.
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