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The Little Girl Standing Face to Face with the Lion
The Little Girl Standing Face to Face with the Lion
Standing on opposite sides of a zoo window is a little girl, maybe five-years-old, with her purple shirt and cute little glasses. On the other side of the window is a full-grown, male lion with muscles contracting and an occasional snarling lip. The little girl curiously touches the glass and gets an up-close look at the "king of beasts." The lion glares back with an unwavering focus. Then, as the little girl leans forward and affectionately kisses the glass, the lion rears back and starts clawing at the glass aggressively. Thankfully the glass was plenty strong and the little girl didn't seem too traumatized by the actions of the lion. However, watching this video brings some sobering realizations about lions.
1. The Lion Is Powerful. If it weren't for the thick glass protecting the child, calling this situation tragic would have been a huge understatement. The power of the lion is incredible. It's no mistake that Satan is compared to a prowling lion (1 Peter 5:8). The knowledge, experience, and power of Satan are things we never want to face if at all possible. However, let's also not overly empower Satan. In the fascinating conversation between God and Satan about Job, it is revealed that Satan is quite limited. Unlike God, Satan isn't omnipresent (Job 1:7; 2:2), omniscient (Job 1:10-11, 22; 2:4, 10), or omnipotent (Job 1:12; 2:6). Without a doubt, Satan is a formidable and powerful adversary, but compared to God, calling Satan an insignificant ant would be giving him too much credit. God is far greater (1 John 4:4).
2. The Lion Is Seeking to Devour. Given the opportunity, a lion will not hesitate to devour its prey. Likewise, Satan doesn't hesitate to take us down when the opportunity arises (1 Peter 5:8). He is looking for weaknesses. He's looking for any foothold he can to inch ever closer to us (Ephesians 4:27).
3. The Lion Is Indifferent to His Prey. A lion will take any prey he can, especially the young and sick. It's just easier to go for prey that isn't as strong. Scripture often warns us to grow, mature, and to help the spiritually weak (Matthew 13:19-22; Ephesians 4:14-15; Philippians 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:14). Let's make no mistake; Satan will come after new Christians and the spiritually sick. We need to protect ourselves, especially those who are weaker or struggling.
The good news is, unlike a real lion, we have a formula to defend against an attack from Satan. James 4:7 points out, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Submitting to God and standing our ground against Satan's temptations is enough to make him retreat. But let's also not forget how much easier it is to resist when we surround ourselves with positive, godly influences to team up with (Ecclesiastes 4:12; Proverbs 27:17; Hebrews 3:13).
Satan and his workers are out there attacking and causing damage. While it's unlikely they are tempting us specifically, Satan's overall influence in this world can bring plenty of temptations our way. Let's surround ourselves with the Lord (1 John 4:4) and with godly influences (1 Corinthians 15:33) so we can better protect ourselves and our spiritually young and sick.
