Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.
He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
Satan and his demons are directly involved in assaulting the lives of men who were once strong in the pulpit. He has rolled up his sleeves and intensified his efforts, especially against minister-types, hoping to discredit even those who have integrity.
Have you begun to notice that more and more of those in some kind of leadership are finding themselves oppressed and depressed? Chances are good if you are influencing people for the cause of Christ, you are under pressure you’ve never known before. I cannot remember another time when so many feel so overwhelmed by pressure.
First Peter 5:8–9 seems better able to say what I’m trying to express:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. So resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world. (NASB)
Why does he write that with such passion? The answer is clear: “your adversary.” He isn’t the adversary of some small group of influential leaders doing top-secret work or strategic ministry. He is your adversary, fellow Christian, fellow minister, fellow leader. He is your adversary, Christian parents, Christian businessman or woman.
And who is this adversary of ours? He is identified as “the devil.” And what is his method? He “prowls about.” Now, that’s pretty descriptive. He isn’t marching to some heavy cadence. He is much more subtle and sneaky than that. Invisibly, insidiously, cleverly, brilliantly, with stealth and strategy, “your adversary prowls about like a roaring lion.” He is on a pursuit. And he is not hoping for a midafternoon snack; he is deliberately “seeking someone to devour.”
Do you want to take this personally? If so, insert your name in place of “someone.” I’ll do it too: “Like a roaring lion, he is seeking to devour Chuck Swindoll, or the Swindoll family, or the integrity of the Swindoll name.” Frightening thought! He is prowling about to discredit, to cast a cloud over, to weaken the impact of our influence. So “be of sober spirit, be on the alert.”
What are we to do with an enemy like that? Run and hide? Hardly. This is no day for religious wimps. Verse 9 commands us to do something. “Resist him” is the biblical imperative. And be certain your resistance is “firm in faith.” Not in your own strength, but “firm in faith,” remembering that you are not alone. Because of Cynthia’s and my involvement in the sanctity of life, I have a whole new group of brothers and sisters I didn’t know before, who are going through the same stuff you and I are going through. We are all in this together, for the long haul.
