Shield of Victory

Throughout history Christians have come under attack, not only from their peers and leaders, but more fiercely from Satan. He does not like having his territory threatened, or to see us growing God’s Kingdom.

We see this in the sufferings of God’s people every day.

Sometimes as we witness all of this suffering Satan will cast fear and anxiety in our hearts, distancing us from God. Sometimes it is a personal struggle we are fighting that separates us from our Heavenly Father.

We must always be aware and able recognize these attacks as just that, attacks.

The observer in me has been able to witness so many of these attacks not only in my own life but in the lives of so many of our friends.

Sadly, my first instinct when I come under attack it to retreat and not serve God’s people. However, even if there was a place I could run. The resulting sense of security would be both false and temporary, wouldn’t it?

So what must we do? How and when should we shield ourselves?

I have spent a lot of time in reading about this this week as I definitely feel that my family and I are under an attack. Sickness, fear, anxiety, stress have all plagued our lives in the past few weeks and have left us sad, desperate and angry.

Have we been taking the proper measures to shield our faith?

Our first defense should be knowing that, as Christians, we are fully covered by the protection offered by our Lord. Here are some scriptures which tell us where we stand as Christians : Psalm 91, Psalm 18:2, 1 John 4:4, Col 3:1-3.

When we do become uncovered from his protection the first step, simple but not always easy to do, is to confess our weakness, doubt and sin and to allow God’s mercy and grace to cover us again.

Once we are protected by the armor of God, we must wear it fully, all of the time. (Ephesians 6:11-18).

We must also Praise and worship God. Why?

Because the devil cannot tolerate it for the following three reasons; Praise proclaims the name of the Lord Jesus, praise is the result of the Holy Spirit working in us (Hebrews 13:15) and because God inhabits our praise. (Psalm 22:3)

Finally, God intentionally does not place us in situations where we are ministering in total isolation from other Christians. We must praise Him that he created us with sufficient weaknesses to need each other.

Have you ever met the completely equipped Christian who is able to minister effectively as a one person church? No. God’s plan for the church is that we need each other (Romans 12:4-8, 1Cor. 12).

Part of the devil’s attack is to use our inadequacy against us, so that we are too scared or anxious to ask for help. Yet, it IS when we are struggling that we need help the most.

In my reading I realized that I in fact was in the midst of a spiritual attack. I felt isolated from God, feeling a little down and anxious about the situations in my life at the moment. My armor had been insecure. I was unprepared and isolated from God and from friends. I was able to recognize this and to repent and ask for God’s grace. He covered me and shielded me once again, through the love and prayers of a few friends and family.