Man up in life’s battles

This morning while I was about to sit down and write this blog I noticed our cat was hunkered down low and watching something very intently. She was as immoveable as a statue and focused on a little critter on our back patio, a chipmunk. Fortunately for the little rodent there was a screen between them both or he would’ve been kitty chow !  But as he sat nibbling away at breakfast, unbeknownst to him, a great danger lurked nearby ready to make him breakfast !!

“Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8).  We’re the chipmunk in this present day parable of cat and chippie !  Satan the cat ready to pounce and the screen is God and His Word !   Paul also wrote, we are to “put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”  (Eph.6:11).  We tend to think and expect that life here should be great.   “Have a good day” is our modern “Shalom” to our friends and nothing wrong with that at all, God always has your best interests at heart ! And we should desire the best kind of life for our friends and ourselves. But feeling we are entitled to a life where nothing goes wrong is ignoring the sobering reality that we are in the midst of a spiritual struggle and as God’s child, at times, in the crosshairs of Satan !  But this shouldn’t scare us because “greater is He that is in you that he that is in the world.” (1Jn.4:4).  But it should sober us to be vigilant and not complacent in our lives, the Word needs to be what we regularly “feast” on and when doubts and fears assail us, we need to counter these fiery darts with what God has said and persevere in our walk with God no matter what.

But when things do go wrong (and they will), when life becomes a battle and you feel like that chipmunk with no screen in between, rest assured He “has your back”, it’s a battle you’re in and you are in fact on the winning team !  Keep the faith as a good soldier.  It should also excite us that, Satan’s schemes aside, God is working on our behalf to protect and prosper us as believers !  Satan is absolutely no match for our God’s wisdom and power.  So when you go through trying times He’s watching over you.  And as Job said, “when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10).