In Genesis 14, Abraham went to war with neighboring tribes. It was a difficult time yet he was able to form a coalition that defeated the enemy and freed the captives, of which Lot and his family were part of. But this left Abraham 
at odds with many of his neighbors. Things were tense and Abraham realized that if they were to come for him, and him alone, when he didn’t have the support of his allies he’d be dead meat! He was afraid of what might happen to him. It didn’t help much that he had insulted the King of Sodom, an ally, who wanted to give Abraham some of the spoil that was returned, but Abraham wouldn’t take anything from him. This could have left Abraham at odds with both his enemies and his allies.
It was in this mood that God appeared to Abraham and said to him in Genesis 15:1, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” This phrase, “I’m your shield” means that God will protect Abraham in his journeys through life. He will be present with Abraham and will never desert him even in times of trouble and distress. This image is repeated for us in the Psalms and elsewhere that God is a shield for his people. He will secure us from all evils, always coming between us and harm. If this is the case, and it is, it should silence all perplexing, tormenting fears Abraham could have. It should silence our fears also.
Unfortunately, like Abraham, you and I are imperfect people. Although we sit here and I write (and you read) these thoughts about Abraham we intend to trust God and not be afraid, we still are easily distracted from God’s promises through the course of our day to day living and need regular reminders. We drift from problem to problem and lose our focus on the more important things every day. We often feel that everything is against me! In Genesis 42:36 that’s exactly how Jacob felt. He forgot God’s promise. I forget God’s promise also. When things pile up around us and even when friends begin to look like enemies don’t forgot God’s promise “I am your shield.”