It's a Jungle Some Times It Makes Me Wonder How I Keep From Going Under

I know, I know, this song is old skool but it epitomizes the thoughts I have at times. I am sure that many of us wonder why in the world does it feel like a jungle.....cuz it is. At times, there is calm. And, I am lured into a mistaken belief that we are not in a jungle. Of course, this is when the battle begins. The Bible says that in I Peter 5:8 ,"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."

I wanted to see how lion hunts as the devil's strategy is to hunt like that. And, here are some common elements of his style: opportunistic, in poor light conditions, stalking, short charges, often fails.

Taking those elements and applying them to our lives, we must know that he is stalking us, being opportunistic he waits to suggest "can you really trust God? or that person?" He attacks in poor light conditions. May I suggest that he attacks us when it appears that there is no hope? Light is often associated with good in the Bible. So, perhaps, he also seeks to mount an attack when we are distancing ourselves from fellowship (just thoughts). His attacks are short charges. I am not trying to diminish them. In fact, a short charge from a lion is very intense.....he tries to overwhelm his prey. Ever feel overwhelmed? And, he often fails. That's the good news. The devil always fails with believers! But, perhaps, we can learn to cage the lion. Below, I took an excerpt of how a lion is tamed.

"When Clyde Beatty made his debut about a century later, he used a whip, a gun and a chair to command his cats. You might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion. It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off."

Cool to think that the lion can be tamed with a chair because of its single-mindedness. Well, the devil is single-minded too. His singular desire is to be God. It's that simple. You, I, we are part of the collateral damage if you will. But, make no mistake he wants to be God and lead a revolution in eternity past to get it. If he weren't the embodiment evil you might even fell sorry for this self-deluded being.

We are in jungle warfare -- the worst kind. And, God has given us amor to fend off attacks. They are found in Ephesians 6:10:
the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the spirit. We don't have to tame the devil we can cage -- defeat -- him because "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)

1 Peter 5:7 tells us to "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." He takes care of you (provision) and he cares for you (affection). Today, take time with me and actively cast your anxieties, see the devil's attacks for what they are, put on the amor, and go to war....we're already in it.