Shield of Faith

Jo Penn June 29, 2023 1 0

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Ephesians 6:16 (NRSVA)

16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Today’s piece of Roman armour is the large shield, which could be used to form tortoiseshell like plates as a battle formation, protecting the soldiers as they advanced together. Made of two layers of glued wood, covered with leather and having iron bindings top and bottom, the shield could be soaked in water and thereby extinguish any flaming arrows that were fired at it.

The first time I volunteered to be part of Lee Abbey Summer Youth Camp Team I had been very clear about volunteering, believing that this was a new step that God was calling me to work with young adults. A few days after volunteering I was filled with dread and doubt about it and emailed the organiser to question my involvement. Thankfully they were wise enough to recognise that the doubts were not coming from God, and encouraged me to have faith that it was right to volunteer for the Summer Camp. That experience of being on Team was the best of the four times I served there – and God’s Spirit was very present. The Devil was wanting to introduce doubt to interfere with God’s invitation to me to step into more of God’s blessing for my life, not only for those few weeks on the camp field, but for the blessing of serving as part of the Scargill Community these past 13 years, as I can trace a direct path from Lee Abbey Youth Camp to serving God here at Scargill.

In John 4, Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as living water welling up within us. Can we revel in the gift of the Holy Spirit, allowing him to extinguish the flames of intruding voices spouting accusations and lies, invoking doubts that weaken our faith in God to lead and protect us?

PRAYER:

Spirit of God,

Fill me again today.

Soak my mind and my heart once more.

I long to follow God’s call on my life

But recognise that the Devil seeks to frustrate the invitation by

Filling me with fear and doubt.

Spirit of God,

Increase my trust and hope in God.