1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT
[8] “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. [9] Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.“
Peter’s gems not only highlight our blessings, they also alert us to danger. He should know! After all, he fell hard because he failed to heed Jesus’s warning.
He knew how painful it was to get up and continue after a terrible failure. Only on hindsight did he realise that he had allowed himself to be ‘devoured’ by the devil.
Why do lions roar? They roar to protect their territory, and their females and offspring. “Stay away. These are my girls and kids. Leave them alone.” There are always young bachelor lions looking for an opportunity to drive out the ruling lion and take over their pride.
If a challenging lion wins the battle, he takes over the lionesses and kills his opponent’s cubs so that he can pass on his genes to the next generation.
Do you get the picture? Lions don’t roar on the hunt. They are ambush and stealth hunters. Roaring on the hunt woud blow their cover. They roar when they announce their possession of territory and family and when they have won their battle against a challenger.
I have pondered Peter’s simile and wondered how he saw the connection. Did he really know how lions behave? He had no TV to watch them hunt from his arm chair!
I’m starting to get the picture.
Satan is the arch deceiver. He wants us to believe that he owns us. He roars to protect his territory. He uses our failures to reinforce his claim. He lures us into sin through our ungodly desires, making them appear attractive.
When we sin, he pounces to devour us. He accuses us, “Now look what you’ve done! God’s finished with you! You see, I told you that you belong to me. You are in my territory, under my authority….” and the accusations go on, triggering guilt, shame, and fear.
So, Satan continues to devour us by driving us to despair, to give up on God because it’s no use trying to be good and to follow Him. I’m sure that we have all been in that place at some time in our lives.
What’s the solution? Peter gives us sound counsel.
- Be alert!
It’s going to happen sooner or later. Our treacherous old nature will trip us up. When it does… - Recognise the source
Temptation to sin, and condemnation when we sin, is never from God. He doesn’t work that way. These are the devil’s tactics to lure us back into his domain. We must never accept condemnation. Guilt is the key to discern the source of our feeling bad. - Stand on God’s Word
Fear says, “Devil, you are right. I am guilty. I have offended God. He has cut me off from Himself. It’s no use trying. I’ll always fail. I might as well give up.”
Faith says, “Devil, you are right. I am guilty of offending God, but… I have an Advocate who is my Defender. He died in my place to forgive me and remove my sin. I am not condemned. I am forgiven and restored by His grace.”
1John 2:1-2 NLT
[1] “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. [2] He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”
- Suffering is not punishment but purifying
How often we think that our troubles are God-inflicted punishment for some wrong we have done. We blame the devil for our suffering and try to go after him with futile ‘praying-against’ prayers. Not so! Peter reminded his readers that believers everywhere were being persecuted for their faith.
From God’s perspective, trials and hardships are not punishment but tests to purify and strengthen our confidence in Him. Paul discovered that it was his weakness that qualified him for God’s grace. Instead of wilting under the ‘poor me syndrome’ (PMS!), stand on God’s truth that you are a new creation, belonging to Him, and He has made provision for those times when we do sin.
The ‘roaring lion’ is lying when he roars that we belong to him. We belong to Christ… forever, even if we are still imperfect. The ‘hunting lion’ is off limits when he seeks to devour us as prey. We are not his to hunt. He has no grounds to take us down. We have been bought with precious blood by, and are under the protection of ‘the Lion of Judah’. No wandering bachelor lion dare challenge Him or His pride.
So, dear brothers, and sisters, let’s heed the warning and stay protected in the boundaries of God’s promises, safe from accusation and condemnation, and becoming the devil’s next meal!