Day 2 – Find the Rival. Bring him down!
How do you bring down a rival? By being stronger, smarter and more prepared.
Putting on the Armor of God, found in Ephesians 6:10-20, is a great way to combat the rival.
But Satan, our rival is strong and sneaky. He is locked and loaded with flaming arrows ready to send our way at any given time. He waits until we have our guard down, aims and fires.
I did a little research on what a shield could have been made of in Bible times.
According to www.gotquestions.org, a Roman shield of Bible times was as large as a door and could cover the warrior entirely. Because it was so large, a number of opponents could gather together and actually form an enclosure around themselves that was helpful to protect against arrows that were launched at them.
Shields were often made of wood and covered in leather and soaked with water because when the leather on the shield was wet, it could extinguish flaming, fiery arrows.
Shields were obviously very important to soldiers and provided great protection. In Roman culture, shields were often painted with identifying marks. When a Christian today takes up the shield of faith, we paint our own identifying mark as a soldier who marches in God’s army.
Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see (Hebrews 11:1). It means we trust in the Lord to handle our situations even when we don’t know what’s on the other side. ESPECIALLY when we don’t know what’s on the other side. Faith is an action word. You do it, without knowing what’s on the other side.
Having faith is the protective shield between us and the Rival. When we believe God and trust Him to do what’s best without knowing the outcome, we are holding that shield of faith.
Bring it on Rival, cause your flamin’ arrows are goin’ down!
