This is the second in a series of blogs on Faith as a part of the Armor of God.
Agent 007 is in Her Majesty’s Service. The fictional character James Bond puts his faith in the Queen of England and her assigned leaders, trusting that the assignments they give him are just and right for God and country.
As Christians we are in the Lord’s service! We put our faith in the Lord and trust Him to guide and direct our steps in truth and righteousness. Illustrated as a shield used by a Roman soldier, faith is the belief that the Lord is the one true God and His word is absolute truth even without visible or tangible proof. Faith is essential for us as we serve because it fixes our resolve to stand firm in our position in Christ. It is our shield to repel the fiery arrows of criticism and doubt thrown at us by the world, and to give us the resolve needed to forge ahead in our quest to serve the Lord.
One example of having faith in Christ is found in Matthew 8:5-13. Jesus was amazed by the faith of a Roman officer who trusted His words alone to heal a sick servant. In Matthew 8:8-9 the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” In verse 13 Jesus responded, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the sick servant was immediately healed.
The more we learn about and experience Jesus Christ and who He is, the stronger our faith in Him becomes; we trust in Him more and more. In Isaiah 40:31 the prophet Isaiah said, “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
In the phrase “those who trust in the Lord will find new strength”, the Lord tells us through Isaiah to depend on Him. The word “trust” in this verse is translated “wait” in the New King James Bible version. It is translated “hope” in the New International Bible version. We are encouraged to depend upon the Lord, and often that means waiting on the Lord to reveal His direction for us. We hate to wait! But in waiting we will “find new” strength. The New King James Bible version uses the phrase “renew their strength”. How much energy do we waste by not waiting for the Lord? We exhaust ourselves with a self-imposed burden of fixing things on our own; doing what we think will control the outcome. When we wait on the Lord and trust in Him no matter what the outcome is, this self-imposed burden is lifted, and we are not exhausted by it. It is foolish to depend upon human strength instead of waiting for Him.
In the phrase “They will soar high on wings like eagles”, the Lord tells us through Isaiah that our faith in Him will lead us to new heights and perspectives. Image what the eagle sees as it soars above the earth. Those on the ground have their view blocked by trees, buildings, and mountains. But the eagle can see past the trees and buildings, and on both sides of the mountains. Our faith in the Lord will help us to be open minded to hear and see what He reveals to us. When we experience a troubling situation and we have no clue what the outcome will be, the Lord will guide us through it. No matter what the outcome is He will help us soar over it with the peace we find through our faith in Him.
In the phrase “They will run and not grow weary”, the Lord tells us through Isaiah that our faith in Him will give us the resolve to do what is needed as we experience any situation. When we experience a troubling situation, we may be asked to do something we don’t think we can do. We may be physically or emotionally tired, or we may think we don’t have the right words to speak. At this point we often don’t think we can push ourselves any further. But our faith in the Lord will give us the resolve to push forward trusting Him for the outcome. In 1 Kings 18:46 the Lord gave Elijah special strength to run ahead of a chariot a good distance to Jezreel. Someone can sprint fast on foot a short distance but not for long distances. Horses pulling a chariot can run faster than someone on foot, and for longer distances. In this situation the Lord gave Elijah supernatural strength to do what the Lord needed him to do. We should trust the Lord that He can do the same for us when needed.
In the phrase “They will walk and not faint”, the Lord told us through Isaiah that our faith in Him will give us the endurance needed in every situation we experience. How often are we demoralized when we experience a troubling situation? Especially when the situation continues for a long time; days, months, years. That’s a long time to wait for an answer, or to finally see what the outcome is. Our faith in the Lord gives us endurance to persevere through the situation to its end and to accept the resulting outcome because we know the Lord is good. In 1 Kings 19:8 the Lord gave Elijah the strength to travel forty days and forty nights to reach the destination the Lord led him to. The Lord used the food Elijah ate on the morning he left to sustain him throughout his journey. This is supernatural nourishment!
We can trust the Lord to meet our needs during any situation He leads us through; shaken not stirred.
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All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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