Ephesians 6:16

This is written by Charlotte Speller - she has been at St Mary's for a year and a half and works in Product Management.

16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

The kind of shield mentioned in this passage is one from ancient warfare times. Think of the shields used in Gladiator or Troy – it could be fixed in the ground, as tall as the soldier, covering all of the soldier, protecting them fully.

Some people might believe it to be a daily struggle to put the "armour of God" on, feeling it's their sole responsibility to stop bad things from happening to them, as if one day they forget, those fiery darts will be coming for them. But God's protection is much more of a promise from Him to us, where we can stand firm trusting in Him and His ability which is far greater and comprehensible than our own. God had our backs even before we were born!

One of the hardest things to do is to trust God and not back seat drive, but it’s also one of the most important things we can do to achieve a fruitful life.

In the film 'The Shack', when the main character feels abandoned by God, the Holy Spirit reminds him - "When all you see is your pain, you lose sight of me".

If we are focusing too much on the negative, scanning for bad stuff to protect ourselves from, we will live limited and fearful lives doubting in God. What we focus on becomes enlarged in our minds - potential threats, offences we carry or receive that day etc. The result is we feel like we're being burnt alive by those fiery darts.

We have the assurance that whatever happens in our lives, the good, the bad and the unthinkable, God is still our protector, even when we don't feel it, even when the odds feel like they're against us, He is carrying us through, strengthening and renewing our spirit, just like the poem "Footprints in the Sand!"