I heard an interesting fact the other day about how a lion's roar is so powerful that it literally can paralyze their prey. I looked more into this and it is one of technics that the lion uses to take down it's prey. Just the sound of it's roar can instill so much fear into the animal that it's about to attack that the animal literally can't move. This gives the lion just enough time to make it's attack before the animal can get away....And as I thought about this, God gave me a slightly different view of it all. Why does this work on it's prey? Because they don't expect it. What if every animal in the desert area was smart enough to know that there are lions all around them, and they just expected the roar. How much power would this take away from the lion if the element of surprise just wasn't there?
Today I wanted to talk to you about fear. Not fear as in someone jumped out and scared you, or you saw a bug or mouse and got freaked out. But the kind of fear that prevents you from living life the way God intended for you to live it. The kind of fear that is debilitating to living a purpose driven life where you are stepping out into new things for God when He calls you. 1 Peter 5:8 says "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour". And this is the verse that made me think about those animal being paralyzed by fear. This verse tells us that the enemy is just like that lion, roaming around around looking for someone to devour, someone to attack. And it says he is like a roaring lion, which tells me that, just like a the roaring lion in the wild, he wants to paralyze us with fear. He wants to intimidate you and make you think that you NEED to fear him. However, the verse starts off by telling us to be sober-minded, why? Because God's word is FULL of warnings to us. It is a book of instructions and warnings telling us how to live the life that God wants for us. And this verse states this BECAUSE God is telling us the enemy is out to paralyze us and attack us, we should be on the look out, we should expect it. We should not be like the animal in the wild who gets caught completely off guard. Fear is what prevents them from getting away from the lion because the instant that they heard the roar, they had no idea what to do. Their minds probably say run, but their body is so stricken with fear that they literally can't. And even when they regain their ability to run, there is immediate panic over which way to run, what do I do, how do I get out of this situation? And this is exactly what the enemy wants us to react like when he catches us off guard because we were not on the look out for him.
Now let me be very clear in stating that I do NOT think we are supposed to live a paranoid life because the enemy is on the prowl. But I do believe we are supposed to live in God's wisdom. Looking out for the traps satan sets for us and avoiding the situations that give him access into our lives. Being aware of conversations and situations that leave us with our guard down. These are the kind of things he does to set us up for the attack, and it's a lack of Godly wisdom that enables him to sneak in around us at times like this. But staying purposeful about living in God's will can prevent this again and again.
But then we come back to that fear I mentioned earlier. The fear that "prevents" us. Are the animals in the wild never supposed to go drink from the water hole because there are lions out there? Of course they are, but they ARE supposed to be smart about it. They don't walk into dangerous territory alone, and they don't do things they are not strong enough to do yet. They use wisdom to know their ability, not fear to hold them back. There is a difference. God will grow you and get you strong enough to take on the enemy, and He will show you when that time is right. If a recovering drug addict got saved and wanted to go minister to other drug addicts, it would not be wise to do it the very next day while they are still weak. That is not fear holding them back, that is wisdom. But if 5 years from now they still didn't think God could make them capable of helping others in that old lifestyle, then that would be fear holding them back. Knowing the difference can help you stand up and face the enemy when he is trying to intimidate you with fear.
God, thank You that even if the enemy prowls like a lion, we have YOU as our protector. Help us be wise and watchful, not ever bowing down to fear, but allowing You to show us what to do and when to do it. Holy Spirit, touch those today that have been paralyzed by fear, and show them how trustworthy God is to help them overcome anything the enemy has tried to use to hold them back. In Jesus name, Amen
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