Tiny Armor
When you read about David as he goes out to face Goliath, he is offered another man’s armor. It’s just too big and doesn’t fit. So, he goes with what he’s accustomed to, a slingshot and five smooth stones. 1 Samuel 17:31. In that story he has the spiritual armor God gave him. In our times, God offers us spiritual armor too.
In Ephesians 6 God explains how He has spiritual armor for us which can be fitted just right. The question is, do you put it on, do you wear it, and are the pieces big enough for the battles you fight? Think about it. If your faith (your shield) is small and you are going into battle, it may seem like you are holding a Tupperware lid as your ‘shield of faith’. How many flaming arrows are you going to extinguish with that?
Your faith must be strong and wide, and ready to extinguish the flaming arrows. The word faith in Greek (language of the New Testament) can be a noun and a verb. The noun means faith and verb means believe. So, your shield, as you use it, is your ‘shield of believing’. But you have to use it. It is your ‘believe barrier’. The enemy will shoot lies at you. So, what do you actually believe about God matters deeply!! What you don’t know (believe) about Him can cause your shield to be small and have holes in it. God knows that. Do you? Or do you go out unprepared and hope for the best? How big is your faith/belief? What is your faith/belief made of?
You are not fighting tiny battles, so why take a tiny shield? “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day”. Ephesians 6:12. Take up the whole armor of God. And make certain you are building your ‘shield of believing’ as you go. If your faith is small, there will be loss.
One example of faith growing – There was a man who had a son possessed by demons who caused him to convulse horribly for years. He asked Jesus to heal him. At one point the man says, “Help my unbelief”. He knows his belief is small, his faith is small. The word used here is the opposite of faith. He says, ‘help my un-faithfulness’.
Ask God, ‘Help me believe You where I don’t believe You’.
Help me to have more faith. We have to ask ourselves, is our faith active and growing?
We shouldn’t go into battle with tiny armor. We must search God’s heart and His word and find how we can have all the parts of the armor necessary, and growing, to fight the battles He has for us. There are flaming arrows in this battle. Next week, we look at how to grow a shield, that when used, we can hear the sizzle of flaming arrows going out.
From God’s Word:
1 Samuel 17:31
Ephesians 6:12
Mark 9:24
