God is My Shield

God is My Shield

by Pete Berardi

The word shield appears forty four times in the whole Bible however only once in the New Testament. The first appearance of “shield” occurs in Genesis 15:1 where it states: After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.

Typically, the word shield only is used when discussing a war or a fight. It is not out of the question to refer to life as a fight or a struggle. God says to us: Fear not, for I am your shield. In other words, “I will protect you”, says the Lord.

How is God our shield? In order for God to be our shield, we have to use him as our shield. A shield is of no use to us when it is lying on the ground. The shield must be held up and held proudly. We must do the same thing with God. Christians must not be ashamed of their faith and must have the courage to share it. In order for God to be our shield we must be obedient to his commandments.

One way to be sure that we have God as our shield is our attitude toward our very lives. The Bible states in Matthew 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. As Christians, it is very important to put God first. When you think about a shield, doesn’t it come first? A shield is no good when it is behind you, unless of course you are traveling in reverse. The same holds true for God. If we seek to save our lives, we shall surely lose it. In other words, only God can save our life. He sacrificed his for ours, and he lived. We are to sacrifice our life for his, therefore we too shall live.

The perfect attitude in regards to our life in my opinion is this: Our life is not our own, it is God’s. Let his will be done in our life. We should feel confident that God has our best interests in mind no matter how bleak the situation. We should walk through this struggle with the “shield of faith” (Ephesians 6:16) held highly up that it might protect us. Let God worry about every little thing. By putting our FAITH in him and TRUSTING him, we empower him to do wondrous things in our lives.