He is our shield.

My son and his friends love to have Nerf gun wars. It really is safe...we have never had an injury! The darts that fly out are just soft and foamy. Most of the boys in the neighborhood have at least one type of Nerf gun...and believe me there are many types...and they each know what they are. Jack has a few small ones but he has a CS-6 (not sure what that means but it seems official!). Anyway...the boys have so much fun. Most of the wars end up at our house. They run from the front yard, through the side gate, in to the back yard, hide behind what ever they can find, run through the front door and out the sliding door in to the back yard. Darts fly every where...they are constantly bombarding someone on the "other" team.

Today is the last day of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (NEDA week). As I was thinking about an ending message for the week, I pictured the many lies, labels and messages that bombard girls and women (and the male population as well) each day. They are like the darts flying from the boys Nerf guns. We try to dodge them. We try to hide from them. But they hit us from all angles. The media, other people, the past, labels, unforgiveness, shame, guilt, fear...shoot out of the mouth of the enemy like a dart gun aimed right at our hearts and minds.

When we allow the darts to hit us, we get hurt. We are on constant defense....just trying to survive and dodge the next hit. Every thing seems magnified and extreme because we may be on constant survival mode. Memories from the past may haunt us. The unattainable expectations that the media places before us keeps us trying to look the part. Shame or guilt may plague us. Labels we have placed upon ourselves may weigh us down.

But I have to go back to something I have been saying all week...BUT GOD...But God says that He is our shield. Psalm 28:7 "The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving."
Psalm 119:114 "You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope." Psalm 144:2 "He is my shield and I take refuge in him."

Our shield is not anything we can hold up on our own. The Word says that God is our shield. And by allowing God to be our shield we can take refuge in him. The definition of refuge is "shelter or protection from danger or distress". And the definition of shelter is "something that covers".

If we do not allow God to shield us with his truth and his Word then we are an open target for those darts to keep hitting us. When we just can't seem to find protection from the distress...we get to find refuge or shelter in God.

I remember when I first became aware that the only way I was going to recover from the eating disorder and from the incredible hold my past had on me was to allow God to love me the way He wanted to. I had to allow God to be God. I had to allow myself to abandon all control I thought I had. I had to realize that God already knew everything that had happened in my life and He still loved me the same as when he created me. I had to allow God to be my shield, my protection, and my refuge. Every time I heard a lie, I hid behind my Father. Every time I saw a distorted image in the mirror, I allowed my Father to love me. Every time I sat in regret of my .past, I had to remember that God doesn't keep record of wrongs.

Those darts that bombard us....can try to hit us...but we can be rest assured that the Lord is holding up His shield and is waiting for us to take refuge in his loving protection.

Love, Teresa