The Unseen Enemy
By Leslie Snyder
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
I Peter 5:8
Some time ago, my husband and I took our kids and some of their friends to play in the children’s play place at our local mall. The weather had been very cold and snow days had kept all of us cooped up for too many days. We all needed a little time to relax and run off some energy. After about fifteen minutes, I caught up with our troupe in the center of the play place. They were climbing like monkeys up and down and over and through a log-like structure that was large enough to endure the frolicking of many children. I quickly noticed that many of the children were coughing. Fearing the spread of yet another illness, I looked at my own kids. They were coughing, too. Within seconds, so was I. I found my husband who also noticed that the coughing had spread to the entire play place. We noticed police began to circle the area. We grabbed our kids, their friends and immediately left the building.By Leslie Snyder
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
I Peter 5:8
The kids were crushed. We had promised them ice cream and the only thing on their mind was that we had broken our promise. “But you said we could get ice cream!” Then came the complaints, one after another. There were no, “Thanks for saving our lives,” or “Wow, Mom and Dad really did the right thing.” Only complaints about leaving too soon and not getting the promised ice cream.
Isn’t that how we often treat attacks on our souls? Someone else sees the danger we are experiencing, loves us enough to drag us out of it, and then we complain because we didn’t get exactly what we wanted. Fortunately, as it turned out our “enemy” at the play place was just a thoughtless person releasing pepper spray as a joke. We were okay and had no lasting physical effects. However, the enemy of our soul isn’t just joking around. He is out to steal, kill and destroy. And when someone loves us enough to see the danger we’re in and lead us from it, we need to follow into safety.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Is there an area in your life that could use some rescuing? What’s keeping you from leaving?
FOR FURTHER READING:
John 8:42-37, 10:7-8
© HomeWord. Used by permission.
