Faith: all the time & for all the flames

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”

Different body parts and diverse battles require specific armor. A helmet isn’t ideal to protect the chest, and shin guards can only do so much for the head. Swords can’t swat away bullets. But there’s a piece of armor designed to be a one-size-covers-all item as the first line of defense against an attack.

In the spiritual battle, it’s the full-body shield of faith. Darts descend on us only to pelt against our shield of faith. The enemy approaches from any angle only to be thwarted by our shield of faith. Fiery arrows whiz straight toward us, only to be absorbed, repelled, deflected, and extinguished by the shield of faith. 

But because of the shield’s multi-purpose protection at all times and for all the flames, it’s our faith that gets burned and bears some of the deepest scars from battle. During a cease-fire, you may have realized that your faith feels worn out. In that stillness, have you turned your shield around to examine its condition?  

Imagine looking at the surface area of this large shield as if it’s comprised of faith categories: at one corner might be your beliefs about God’s character; at another corner, all that you believe about God’s power; maybe the middle portion is what you believe about God’s Word; still other parts of the shield might be your faith regarding God’s people and God’s plan. Often, the arrows pierce again and again at just one section of our beliefs to weaken that specific area. On what part of your shield have the arrows clustered together?  

Maybe your faith about God’s character has been splintered. Perhaps your belief about His power is falling apart; maybe your trust in His Word is coming undone. It could be that relationships with God’s people are being chipped away, little by little. God’s plan for you might feel sub-par. Left without reinforcement, even the slightest hole in our shield can lead to our take-down.

To our relief, though, God is in the shield restoration business. Materials we need for repairs are never on back-order. He’s not short on help, at a loss for all the damage done, or disgusted when we slide our shield across the counter to Him.  The question is whether we’ll pick up the tools He offers us to rebuild with Him. His Word functions like a toolbox full of truth to reinforce our faith. Recognizing where our faith has been weakened and applying the reinforcement of specific truth is how the battle actually becomes the catalyst for strengthening our shield of faith instead of destroying it. 

What specific truth needs to be applied to an area of your faith as reinforcement for it?

Foot-long Leadership

I’m crossing the threshold of 2024 in reverence for the holy ground of one foot. Let me explain. 

I usually want the Lord to lead me in mile-long strides, reaching goals far off on the horizon in a single jump. When I look for Him to work on that scale, though, it can start to feel like God isn’t active in my life or answering prayer at all. That’s because I’ve overlooked His direction that most often comes in foot-long increments. Although He is completely capable of guiding us in leaps and bounds, the believer’s life is described as walking with God -  miles, divided into feet. 

With a shoe size of 9.5, my walking shoes measure around one foot long.  Yes, that’s the larger end of women’s shoes, but, in terms of walking, a 12-inch step is really not a lot of ground covered.  Yet following one after the next, they will eventually add up to one mile.  One after the next, there is progress.

And God’s leadership is like that. He can do exceedingly more than we ask or think, but He so often does it by dividing a mile into 5,280 feet. He takes us by the hand, and He sets a pace we can match, if we just put one foot in front of the other along with Him.  Twelve inches of faith. One foot of prayer. Twelve inches of goals. One foot of guidance.

Whatever your resolutions, may you anticipate and experience the holy ground of God’s foot-long leadership as you step into the New Year.

Hebrews 11:7-40

It seems unfair to summarize someone’s life in a paragraph or to depict them as a character in flannelgraph, but so goes the fame of faith. It was never about them. 

Verse 7. Noah hadn’t ever experienced the type of weather or severe judgment that God told him was ahead, but he didn’t need to have a perfect idea of what was coming before diligently spending decades of his life in preparation. God gave him enough information to commit to the task in front of him. 

I so often want to calculate every possible outcome, understand all that will be required, or draw from at least a partial experience of something before putting in effort toward obedience. But to have faith like Noah, I would begin right now with what I know, tools I have, and burdens I carry. 

Faith prepares in the present for an unclear future.

Verses 8-16. Abraham picked up and left the place he called home, not sure where he’d end up, yet certain that God had called. Even after he and his family arrived in the Promised Land, they lived like gypsies, ready to move when necessary, open-handed on their idea of home. They didn’t look back as if returning to where they came from would be the solution to the longing in their hearts. 

Moving is unnatural for me - as common as it has become in my own story - and I can only release my grip on staying when I’m convinced that home is still up ahead.  

Faith redefines home to be at home on the journey toward it. 

Verses 11-22; 29-40.  Pregnancy in old age, resurrection from death, counter-cultural blessings, freedom from slavery, parting of the waters, destruction of city walls…all of these were supernatural human experiences, only resulting from promises God made. But they were just glimpses into what God had promised in Jesus and what He promises is still ahead for all of His followers.

Atypical could be a one-word summary of God’s promises; otherwise we might take credit, and otherwise, there would be no need for faith. When I find myself resisting God because “the world just doesn’t work this way”, it’s an indicator I’m probably not living by faith.  

Faith leans into the strength of God’s promises more than the limits of normalcy. 

Verses 23-28. Moses’ parents could have faced Pharaoh’s retaliation for concealing Moses’ birth, because they had been commanded to kill him. But they acted consistent with who they were as the people of God rather than bowing to a human decree.  Later, Moses himself denied his royal Egyptian rights and privileges and instead chose to follow the ways of his real King.

Many times, my walk of faith has led to a split in the road, and I haven’t always chosen well like Moses and his parents.  I’ve often picked the path of my own comfort over the path of my conviction as a follower of Jesus, and it’s fear that rules when I do.  

Faith defies fear by acting on conviction instead of comfort.  

I don’t play basketball any better after visiting the hall of fame, because the players all had something I do not, no matter how hard I practice. But we’re reminded in Hebrews 11, that we are the ones who have something these people did not have:

We know the end of the story of faith. 

We relate to the Savior of our faith. 

We walk in His Spirit who empowers our faith. 

Unlike any hall of fame, this record serves to equip the ones who walk its halls to keep going forward by faith.

Hebrews 11:1-6

A couple years ago, our family visited the Basketball Hall of Fame. On display are pictures documenting the development of the game, giant Nike’s that made mine look like toddlers’ shoes, and players’ handprints that my head could fit into. These people deserve their fame, and everything about them that has been preserved for us makes that point.

Hebrews 11 invites us to linger like we’re staring at snapshots documenting ancient faith, following giant footprints of those who’ve gone before us, and noticing the massive handprint of the One who held them all the way. 

If we rolled out the red carpet, the subjects of this chapter would probably look over their shoulders wondering who was being honored. Fame wasn’t the path they walked; faith was. Hebrews 11 describes the effect that faith had in their lives, but first, it reaches back in time to start the discussion on faith with the beginning of the world, before any human made their mark.

Verses 1-3. Faith agrees that when God spoke, atoms arranged, molecules bonded, chemicals reacted, and matter came into being. Life formed, because God said it should. Life continues because He upholds it by the Word of His power. What I see with my eyes was created because God opened His mouth. 

Faith accepts that life itself depends on the Word of God. 

Verses 4-6. Life is full of endings, often unexpected ones, as seen in the first two examples highlighted in this chapter. These men didn’t know their days would be cut short: one is murdered, taken at the hand of his angry brother; the other is taken by the hand of God and avoided experiencing death. Their sudden departures from life only amplify their legacy of faith. 

Unlike his brother, Abel drew near to God in faith. This pleased God but infuriated his brother enough to kill Abel for it. All over the world today, martyrs’ blood declares their faith long after they’re gone. 

Unlike his ancestors, whose sin caused them to hide from God as God walked through the garden, Enoch walked with God.  He stood in contrast to the sin of his people, prophesying about the Lord’s coming judgment on it. In response to his close relationship with God, God essentially “raptured” him from Earth.  His was a faith that was eager to be in God’s presence.

Both Abel and Enoch believed God, unlike many of their family, ancestors, or contemporaries, and this kind of faith still speaks.  They lived before the Flood, preceded Abraham, and lived generations prior to the Exodus, but the limited revelation from God that they had by their lifetime was enough to change the way they lived. And I complain that God hasn’t made things clear enough for me to step out in faith! 

Sometimes the step of faith He’s calling us to brings an end to something. Most endings we face regularly aren’t as drastic as loss of life - they’re just the close of a season of life.  Some are predictable, but others are not. I find that it’s hardest on my faith when it seems that the song of a particular season is only half-sung when change comes, or like I’m stopping mid-stride to pivot with God’s plan. How could God use efforts that seem so “unfinished”? Abel and Enoch teach me that when things end before the time I had imagined:

Faith to the end speaks loudly in an unexpected end.  

We’ll keep moving down the Hall of Faith, stopping to read the plaques and signs along the way.

For now, we’re left to ponder these questions from verses 1-7:

Do I believe the Word like my life depends on it?

If my life or a particular season of life ended suddenly tomorrow, would there be evidence from today that I lived by faith?

Trials & Testing

Throughout life, it seems that the trials of my faith prove just how little of it I have. I could assume the nickname for myself that Jesus compassionately created for His disciples, “Little-faith ones”. The trying circumstances in which Jesus used this unique term are recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, and they highlight reactions to life that come much more naturally - at least to me - than faith does.

Anxiety: “Will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious…” Matthew 6:30-31. 

Draw me into dependence on You as my Father. You’re enough for today.

Fear: “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Matthew 8:26.  

Calm me as my Creator, present with me in the rocking boat.

Doubt: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31. 

Reassure me as my Rescuer with your reliable Word and steady hand.

Inattention: “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?...Do you not perceive? Don’t you remember the five loaves…or the seven loaves?” Matthew 16:5-12.  

Show me all your past evidence as Provider, so that I trust you right now. 

May we respond to this nickname like the apostles did in humble desperation before the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Luke 17:5.

“If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20.