10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints."
Ephesians 6:10-18
One of the characteristics of the evil one's attacks through the 'fiery darts', as indicated at the end of yesterday's reading, is the swiftness and unexpectedness with which they are made - the sudden thought that comes to a believer's mind and sticks like a barb, plunging him in a matter of minutes into a raging inferno of doubt and confusion, which can continue for days, or weeks. No one who has not experienced this can appreciate the depth of distress and even despair that this can bring. Bunyan captures this very well in Pilgrim's Progress, when Christian passes through the valley of the shadow, as he describes Christian's confusion and inability to discern whether the voices he hears are from God or from another source. A great part of such an experience is of course just this inability to discern whose voice is speaking to us. It is one thing, for example, for Job to cry out that the 'arrows of the Almighty' are assailing him, but the question that does arise in such a situation is whether the arrows are coming from the Almighty or from another source. This is the big question. In a remarkable passage in Job 9:10ff, the patriarch cries out in his anguish at the seeming harshness and inscrutability of God's dealings with him, and then, after a pause, he says 'If it is not He, who then is it?' This momentous utterance raises the question whether it is the arrows of the Almighty that are troubling him, or arrows from another source. A gleam of light such as this can make all the difference between despair and hope, for when we know that, when we are under attack, we can raise our shield against the evil one's fiery darts, and win through to victory. Is this a word for some storm-tossed believer today?