Conflict, confrontation, trial, and tribulation are inevitable in the Christian life (1 Peter 4.12). As part of the whole armour of God we have been reading about Paul now talks about our first and foremost defense, the shield of faith:
“…and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
(Ephesians 6.16, NET)
David Guzik writes
The shield Paul describes is not the small round one, but the large, oblong shield that could protect the whole body. In ancient warfare, these [flaming arrows] were launched in great numbers at the beginning of an attack. The idea was not only to injure the enemy, but to shoot at him at all sides with a massive number of arrows, and thus to confuse and panic the enemy.
(Enduring Word)
The vast and varied ways that the evil one and his influence in our fallen world will come at you are just like flaming arrows. Even if they don’t hit you directly they can cause hurt, they can distract, and left alone they can destroy.
A solid and all-covering shield would go a long way to making sure that disruption is minimised. The shield we are to take up against spiritual warfare, we read, is faith.
Our trust and our belief in Jesus always defeats any deluge that the enemy sends our way. When flaming arrows come your way, affirm these truths to yourself:
“You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
(1 John 4.4)
“In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage — I have conquered the world.”
(John 16.33b)
See also Revelation 19.11-16, 20.7-10
(Image – – http://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/5959)
James Travis 
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