In athletics, the importance of a strong defense cannot be overstated. More than merely stopping the other team from scoring, it can turn the tide of an entire game and produce victory. Likewise, most of us take wise defensive measures in our daily lives. We protect personal privacy and company secrets with complex computer passwords, pay careful attention to conditions and other drivers while on the road, lock our doors at night, and avoid dangerous situations whenever possible.

In biblical days, people built great walls around their cities to defend against attack. But even then, they realized that that wasn’t enough to ensure their safety from enemies, and they came to rely on a higher, surer, stronger power: God. Describing such trust in God, the psalmist wrote, “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved” (Psalm 62:6). And wise counsel written to early Christians in the Greek city of Ephesus encourages us to ally ourselves with God’s power today. The writer likened spiritual qualities of thought—such as truth, righteousness, and faith—to pieces of bodily armor (see Ephesians 6:10–17).

The truth that God was the perfect defense against any attack became crystal clear to me.