“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” - Ephesians 6:16
Whether we know it or not, we are constantly under attack by the devil. As Jesus said, the devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). And with that, Apostle Paul teaches us to put on the armour of God so we can withstand the devil’s schemes.
One particularly memorable part about Ephesians 6 is verse 16, which talks about the devil’s fiery darts. Most translations commonly refer to these as arrows, but I grew up reading and memorising the King James Version, so I’ve always had the imagery of fiery darts. Now, darts and arrows are both projectile weapons. While they can be about the same size, darts are often much smaller. As a rough reference, visualise an archer’s arrow and a typical throwing dart. What’s interesting to me when I read about the devil throwing fiery darts at me is that it’s something small, not something big like an arrow. And there’s something important to learn there.
Sometimes, the devil’s attacks come in the smallest of forms. See, the devil doesn’t always launch a massive attack against us. Quite often, he just slowly pelts us with these small fiery darts. At times, they bounce off us, and other times, they pierce through cracks in our armour. Even when we get hit, we brush them off thinking it’s just a flesh wound. But these darts do damage us. Recently, someone innocently said something that sowed some doubt into me. We weren’t in an argument, just having a normal conversation. But what was said triggered a sense of defeat and self-doubt inside me. As I sat back and sought the Lord, I realised that I had gotten hit by a tiny venomous dart of the devil that poisoned my thoughts and evoked negative emotions.
Church, that’s how the devil often works. He won’t always launch some mammoth attack that we can anticipate and brace ourselves for. Most of the time, he just pelts us with these small darts here and there. They poison and discourage us, and that’s all he needs. But there’s hope. We’re not in this alone. God gives us the shield of faith that not only deflects these darts, but extinguishes them.
Today, are you under attack? It may not be a major attack, but is the devil pelting you with shame, defeat, temptation, doubt, faithlessness, and so on? Come back to God and His word. Lift up your faith as a shield and stand firm in God.
- Deputy Senior Pastor Daniel Khong