A couple of my friends and I went to the movie on Friday night. We got there early and the only time slot close to our arrival for the movie we wanted to see was the 3D version. I had never been to a 3D movie before just because I heard they might make you a bit queasy and that didn’t sound like fun to me. But, I was up for the challenge of something new and said, “Let’s do this!”.

The ticket taker kindly gave us our equipment; our 3D glasses. We went and found seats in the theatre, front and center. We chatted until the previews came and I noticed that things were fuzzy on the screen and eventually took the cue that maybe I should put on my glasses. Which I did, and immediately a cartoon bird was flung in my direction.  Hands up, I exclaimed, “Whoa” in my not-so-inside voice. This made all three of us laugh until we cried and then we laughed some more. By the time the movie started, I was a veteran at the 3D movie viewing experience.

I went into this new adventure inexperienced and uninformed. I had the equipment, I just didn’t know when to put the glasses on. Nor did I know what to expect. When the cartoon bird came flying in my direction, my instinct took over and I put up my guard while trying to scare away the threat… follow me on this one.

Have you ever experienced surprising things flying in your direction feeling totally inexperienced and unprepared?  The Bible tells us through Paul in Ephesians when he was talking about the full armor of God, “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”  Ephesians 6:16 NIV

The Lord doesn’t want us to go into situations unprepared. He calls us to armor up. We can gain our experience and instruction through the Word of God and be fully aware of these flaming arrows. This requires action on our part. We need to not only have the equipment and the instructions, but we need to have the knowledge so when the instinct kicks in, it is seasoned with the Lord’s training not our natural human fight or flight response.

“For the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”  Proverbs 2:6 NIV   Pray for understanding, learn what His Word says, and bury those truths deep into your heart so when a flaming arrow surprises you, the response is His and not from our sinful human nature.

Father, Thank you for Your wisdom in dealing with the flaming arrows of the evil one. Thank You that You have provided the equipment, the knowledge, and the understanding we need in these situations.  In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.