As a follower of Jesus, you have fiery darts coming at you all the time. So what kind of fiery darts are coming your way? Satan implants the following thoughts into your mind:

• Doubt. You start asking yourself, “Did God really say? Can I really trust God? Isn’t that just your interpretation?”
• Discouragement. Satan tells you, “You’re never going to get any better. Your life won’t change. Don’t even try.”
• Delay. You ask yourself, “Why is this taking so long?” Something you want to happen hasn’t happened by now.
• Difficulty. You ask yourself, “Why is this so hard? Why is it so hard to make my marriage work? Why is it so hard to get a job?”
• Depression. You tell yourself, “It’s not worth it.” You don’t even feel like making an effort.

All these darts come your way on a regular basis. They create uncertainty in your life. In times of great uncertainty — like when you’re out of work or going through a major family transition — these fiery darts will fly at you even faster. You better be ready for them.

Paul gives us the only proper antidote to these fiery darts: the Shield of Faith. The Bible says, “At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One” (Ephesians 6:16 GNT).

How do you handle these darts? Put on the Shield of Faith. It’s the only protection you have against doubt, discouragement, delay, difficulty, and depression. Trust God, no matter what you see, hear, or feel about the world around you. You need the certainty of God when you face the uncertainty of Satan’s fiery darts.

In short, you’ll need to doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs. Most people do just the opposite. They doubt their beliefs and believe their doubts. That’s just dumb. Believe what God tells you in his Word.

I saw a bumper sticker many years ago that said, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” It may be a nice sentiment, but it’s bad theology. The truth is, “God said it, and that settles it — whether I believe it or not.” God’s truth isn’t based on whether you believe it or not. It’s still true even if you don’t believe it, because God can’t lie.

You need that kind of certainty in difficult days. With the Shield of Faith, you have certainty that God’s promises are true even when they don’t appear to be true in your life.

Whenever you start believing your doubts and doubting your beliefs, Satan cracks a door open in your life, and he’ll use that door to attack you on many levels.

You can’t ever take off the Shield of Faith, either. Paul tells us to wear it “at all times.” Satan will never stop throwing his fiery darts at you. Stay on your guard. Trust God and his Word, no matter what’s going on in your life.

The Shield of Faith is the best protection money can’t buy.

This devotional © 2014 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.