Faith
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Ephesians 6:16 (KJV)
STORY
Corrie ten Boom is best known for her book The Hiding Place that was later made into a movie. The book describes how her Christian family hid Jews in their Netherlands home during the persecution of that religious sect during Nazi regimen. With their watchmaker business downstairs, upstairs in their living quarters a false wall was constructed to hide the Hebrews. It was Nazi government policy that anyone found hiding a Jew also became an enemy of the state. With so many people willing to cooperate with the oppressors, and just as many harboring a hatred of Jews, the ten Boom family were eventually arrested. The ten Boom family, Corrie, her sister Betsie, and their father began their mission of hospitality in May 1942. A Nazi informant told the Gestapo of their enterprise and on February 28, 1944 the family was arrested.
Corrie was incarcerated at Ravensbruck concentration camp. As the women entered the camp, they were taken to a shower room and were ordered to undress. Their clothes and all their personal belongings were then confiscated. Corrie had a Bible with her, without which she knew she could not survive the coming ordeal. Disrobing, she received a prison dress, under which she placed her Bible.
Two guards stood at the exit from the shower room, frisking each woman as she left. Desperate, helpless, Corrie prayed, “Lord, cause your angels to surround me; the guards must not see me.” A sense of peace came over Corrie. She walked relaxed and with ease past the guards, almost as if she was invisible. With the assurance that comes from prayer, Corrie ten Boom knew the steadfast love and faithfulness of God.
DEVOTION
There are desperate, frightening, and uncertain times in our lives. We need not pretend otherwise. We couldn’t even if we wanted to. We are encircled by hardships that seemingly leave us unmoored from God.
Paul encourages us to overcome fear with faith. To be strengthened in our faith Paul presents in his letter to the church at Ephesus that Christians are to put on the spiritual armor of God. He wrote that as we dwell in the shadow of evil, we maintain our solace when “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” In doing so we are able to protect and sustain ourselves against “all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
This passage is particularly important for it gives a new dimension to the meaning of faith. Faith is most often associated with believing in a theological doctrine, but now faith is clearly defined as an act of God’s protection. This admonition is most prominent when understood that this dictate from Paul was to empower believers in the eschatological battle with evil that we are presently engaged in.
“So you understand the roaring wave of fear that swept through the greatest city in the world just as Monday was dawning – the stream of flight rising swiftly to a torrent, lashing in a foaming tumult round the railway stations, banked up into a horrible struggle about the shipping in the Thames and hurrying by every available channel northward and eastward.” In this descriptive passage, H.G. Wells, in his book The Ward of the Worlds, describes the fear of the Londoners as the Martians approach their city. Terrorized, the residents scurry to leave the city. Their movement is so fast and furious it is as if the people have become a tidal wave of a rushing water of fear.
All of us have experienced a fear so great we felt ourselves out of control. All of us have experienced a problem so massive we imagined it to be insurmountable. All of us have experienced a tragedy so severe that we knew we could never recover. All of us have experienced a disappointment so heart-rending we realized there was no future. The experience of having a life torn asunder cannot be minimized, yet, for the student of the scriptures, in the midst of this travail there dwells a message of deliverance.
Deliverance comes when we are drawn close to the bosom of God. It is the maternal attribute of God that sustains us through our times of trial and tribulation. It is the Lord joining his spirit with our spirit that strengthens our soul, which gives us the stamina to continue. Life problems will come at us like a tsunami, as animated in the writings of H.G. Wells; or, in the description by Paul, as fiery darts. Fiery darts that pierce our lives as an unspeakable trauma engulfs us. Our earthly life becomes an unending treadmill of despair that finally exhausts us beyond any expectation of renewal. This is when we know that faith will deflect life’s hardships. Paul does not promise the absence of suffering, but with faith’s protection its full devastating force will be counterbalanced with a sense of hope.
Fanny Crosby is considered one of the greatest hymn writers in the history of the church. She has testified to the perseverance that allowed her to continue to compose hymns while blind since an infant, which came from the assurance of God’s divine presence in a dream. In January 1864, Crosby had an encounter with God that transformed her life. One night she had a dream; it was a vision. She found herself in an immense observatory and before her was the largest telescope one could ever imagine. She looked through the telescope and saw a brilliant and captivating star. Suddenly she was moving through space towards that star, when abruptly she came to the edge of a beautiful river. The scene was so peaceful, so inviting, that Fanny wanted to continue on. She even asked to be invited across that golden spectacle.
In response to her request, she heard the voice of God. Her Heavenly Parent brought stillness to her soul when He spoke these gentle words: “Not now, Fanny. You must return to the earth and do your work there, before you enter those sacred bounds; but ere you go, I will leave the gates open a little way, so you can hear one burst of the celestial music.”
Whenever Crosby became discouraged or uninspired, or whenever her handicap of being handicapped became too overwhelming, she recalled that vision and listened for a chord of celestial music to regain the inspiration she needed to continue her compose hymns.
God has given us a vision. God has spoken to us. We know His faithfulness. We have felt His presence within our souls. We have felt our bodies strengthened, our minds enlightened, and our spirits lifted because God has breathed new life into us, as He did on the day of Creation.