Quenching the Flames

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." (Ephesians 6:16). The word quench has a few different meanings. It can mean to satisfy or soothe or ease a thirst or desire. It also means to extinguish or smother or put out a fire. I don't believe these two definitions are all that different, especially in the context of the fiery darts of the wicked. We hope as we wield our shield of faith we are able to block all of the fiery darts headed our way, but when we fail and let some through, all is not lost. We can use our shield to smother or quench the flames. We may sometimes feel like a flaming pincushion and wonder what could possibly be the point of lugging around the shield of faith since it seems to never block any of the fiery darts. We may wonder why we should even bother to ask for forgiveness when our temper burns so fierce and so often. We may wonder why we bother going to church when we so often give into gossip and judgmental behavior. We may wonder why we bother trying to tell the truth when we so often fall into the habit of telling lies and half truths. But picking ourselves back up after getting burned again is how we take that shield of faith and quench the fiery darts. If we can't always stop the darts from getting through, we can at least cut off the oxygen that is all that is frustrating and depressing and painful that fuels the flames of those fiery darts and causes them to flare up. If we find certain sins do so easily slip through our defenses and pierce our souls and cause them to burn with guilt, then we just have to go forth with faith anyway and we will find that little by little those temptations and desires and thirsts will be quenched and eased and soothed and smothered.