Devil

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”  - 1 Peter 5:8-9

I’m not one who finds the devil lurking around every corner.  I’m also not one to think that every bad thing that has happened to me has been the work of the devil.  Frankly, most of my lifetime wounds have been rather spectacularly self-inflicted.

Unlike some of my friends, I’m not seeing the upcoming presidential election as some sort of ultimate battle between evil and good.  As a Christian, if you just want to look at the candidates’ apparent theology, then frankly you can vote for neither. (Although, unlike four years ago when I wrote in a candidate’s name, this time around I am voting for one of the major candidates, to be certain).

Yet, Scripture is clear, that the devil is real and looks for opportunities. Peter describes this opportunistic outlook as “a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  That is a vivid visual. Yet even a lion is an opportunistic animal.  They look for the weak links and take advantage.  I’ve long heard it said that the devil is in the details.  The small things.  The things we might overlook or brush by.  Or ignore.

The devil is real.  He is more than a piece of cute artwork. He is not the kid in the red outfit that might visit your front door this evening. He is more than the name of a professional sports team. And he can really influence us.

Peter says, “resist him.”  How?  By “standing firm in the faith.” Which means a Scripturally well-grounded prayerful faith can surely resist the greatest of evil.  And it can discern the “devil in the details’ also.  Faith is not founded in the wild emotional highs, nor should it be devastated by the deep emotional lows; although we experience both, sometimes frequently.

Our faith is grounded in a Savior that we love because he first loved us. (visit 1 John 4:19).  Our faith is based not on our ups or downs or external influences but on the knowledge that God so loves us that He gave his Son for us.  And deeply entwined in that fact is that the same God that so loved us will not let us go (visit John 10:28) if we are his. No matter what the devil is doing.

Be alert, for the devil is at work, make no mistake.  But don’t give the devil more credit than he deserves.  And trust in the One who loves you so much….