Our mission is to encourage, prepare, and connect women worldwide to impact their communities with God’s Love.
Listen:
“…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 NKJV)
Reflect:
Before the pandemic, Bogdan and I and another friend took a tour of some of the fortresses in Transylvania, the part of Romania that I come from. The history of these lands are so complicated and those fortresses (not just the one belonging to the Hollywood-famous legendary count Dracula) have seen numerous battles.
When walking through each fortress and the belonging lands, it was easy to imagine the stories learned in the history class, imagining what life must have been like, not just for the nobles, but also for the commoner who had to work the lands for food and had to fight alongside the landlord for survival. And life was hard for both, in different ways.
One of the things that was fascinating to learn was that there were times when different oppressors took away all arms from people, even the iron used for farming, in order to control any rebellion. So, the little “army” of the oppressed had to fight with improvised wooden “swords” and rudimentary farming tools as shields.
Can you imagine going to battle protected by old broken wood, when your enemy was attacking with real weapons? Can you imagine fiery darts coming towards you and you holding an old piece of wood, ready to receive that fire and be devoured by it?
The Bible is telling us that God’s enemy, the devil, will scheme against us and we feel it and see it all around us. At times it feels endless and hopeless. But in the same passage, in Ephesians 6, we are also given the good news: we are able to stand our ground because God gave us an armor that is stronger than any weapon that the enemy is using: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. All of these parts of the armor are actually all about Jesus who is the truth, our righteousness, the good news (gospel) and the Prince of peace, he is the center of our faith as our salvation and the Word himself. So when we are given this armor, we are not given an old piece of wood as a shield and then we are sent into battle, but the King himself stands as a shield before us.
Prayer of Response:
“King Jesus, thank you for being my shield. I confess that sometimes I go through my days forgetting that you are with me. Please surround me with your presence today. Help me look to you and live today in awareness of you, because I need you more than I am often aware. And if there is a friend, a sister who needs you as a shield today, help me see her with your eyes and show her your kindness and love today like you would. I trust your promises today. I am praying in your name, you are the victorious One, the King. Amen.”
—Submitted by Diana Anton
Diana was born in the fascinating lands of Transylvania and now lives and serves with her husband Bogdan in Bucharest, Romania. Her passion is to see women worldwide connected, encouraged and prepared to impact their communities with the love and peace of God, and she loves being part of this movement. She sometimes shares about her life in Romania on her blog www.lifeonfarmroad.com.
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