Ep.1222: How Is Satan Trying to Devour Me?
How the Devil attempts to sabotage my Christian life
CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: 1 Peter 5:8
Most Christians are very aware of Satan’s influence in our world today. We know he is opposed to God and His will at all turns, and as the "god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4), he will ferociously fight to keep all he has laid claim to. What we don’t often think about is how we as individual Christians fit into the intensity of Satan’s raging against God. The Scriptures tell us that his objective was and continues to be usurping for himself the authority that ultimately belongs to the Most High God. Anyone and anything that in any way shape or form stands in the way of Satan’s fight over his perceived authority is fair game for his unrighteous anger. As Christians, we love God supremely and seek to daily walk in the footsteps of our Lord Christ Jesus. This blessing means we are also Satan’s prime targets. What now?
Satan as a roaring lion
The Apostle Peter’s illustration of Satan going about as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour in 1 Peter 5:8 is a powerful one. Peter had firsthand experience regarding the power of Satan’s attacks when he denied the Lord three times before Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus warned Peter that Satan was after him (Luke 22:31-32) and that he had prayed for him. Jesus knew Satan would exploit Peter’s moments of weakness and attempt to reframe them as a life of failure. Satan lost that battle and as a result, Peter warned us to be watchful.
Do you hear the roar?
Lions roar for a variety of reasons. They roar to warn their pride of danger, to scare off an intruder, another lion or a predator. A lion’s roar can be devastatingly loud, and it can invoke acute fear and panic. Satan as a roaring lion is unmistakably hunting down the followers of Jesus. His objective is to stifle the work of Christ that is being accomplished through us. He will stop at nothing to intimidate, discourage, or cause us to panic in fear. He knows that his time and his dominion are both limited. What happens when you corner a predatory animal? They attack with a destroyer’s ferocity.
Satan’s attacks on the disciples of Christ can take place in a variety of ways. His typical approach seems to be to lie in wait for the everyday trials that come to us as we strive to be like Jesus. His objective is to turn those trials into traumas and to get us to focus on things other than following Christ.
Check out our March 28, 2022 podcast, “How Is Satan Trying to Devour Me?” for more. We examine four specific ways Satan as a roaring lion seeks to get into our hearts and heads. We look at several real-life examples of what it means to stand up against the lion’s roar. The Bible tells us to wear the Armor of God, but fighting Satan requires us to be armed inwardly as well outwardly. Join us as we focus on standing our ground in the battle for our Christian lives!
Thank you for this episode. I especially appreciated the real-life examples each of you gave. Knowing that Satan will go after us where we each are specifically vulnerable is not only enlightening, but I feel empowered to now be on the offensive when these trials come my way so that I am not taken by surprise. I may still be shaken, but I won’t be knocked down. Thank you again for this faith-strengthening episode!