Netflix is great. I really dig it. Our current flick is disc 1 in the BBC’s “Plant Earth” series. These are some seriously cool nature films; and I’m a guy who NEVER thought I’d use the words “seriously cool” and “nature film” in the same sentence. But I don’t really want to talk about that.
During a segment about the African wilderness, the subject matter turned to a herd of impalas. Of course, for every herd of grass-eating creatures there’s a pack of grass-eater-eaters. This time the pack was comprised of hyenas, and as it turns out, they’re pretty sophisticated hunters. As the process began, the first look we got was a line of lithe, spotted dogs trotting easily through some sparse trees and scrub brush. (Personally, the first thing I noticed is that they were like Stormtroopers… they traveled in single-file, to hide their numbers.) At this easy pace, the pack approached the main herd of grazing impalas. Predictably, the herd immediately retreated. As the would-be victims saw their pursuers close in, panic ensued and the herd broke into chaos. Once that happened, the hyenas would pick one young creature who happened to run off alone and take care of business.
Store that away for a few minutes.
Recently we’ve been talking about Revelation at church. Last week we started talking about chapter 12. In this particular chapter, we get a view of Satan as a big ‘ol dragon. Not only is he big and ol’, but he’s mean and nasty. Get this… first he tries to eat up a new born baby. No luck. The baby gets protection from Heaven. This makes Satan angry, so he starts to raise a ruckus in Heaven. Michael comes in, delivers a sound thrashing, and tosses Satan out of Heaven. Satan gets huffy and tries to kill the baby mama… no luck. She also gets some protection from Heaven, and is placed out of Satan’s reach. Satan uses another tactic, and tries to get at her anyway. This time the earth itself helps her out and thwarts Satan again. By this time, Satan’s just about had his limit. He decides to take out his frustration on anyone who claims to follow Jesus.
Here’s what I get from that account: Satan has power, but he also has limits. He has the ability to affect the physical world, but he can be stopped. When he’s stopped at one avenue, he’ll try another. Persistent little devil. First he tried to strike at the baby (likely Jesus), then he tried the mother (possibly the people of God), then he tried some other tactics against the mother and was stopped again. Finally, about 4 steps down the chain, he’s left the avenue of us (“us” being followers of Jesus).
Now let’s tie some things together.
We know, from Revelation 12, that “picking on humans” isn’t Satan’s first choice. It isn’t even his second or third, which says to me that “we” are not the pivotal thing in his plan. We’re simply the only wall where he can find a weakness. So what does he do? He charges at the pack in order to cause confusion, isolate us, and pick us off when we’re vulnerable. I have a solid hunch that one of Satan’s primary tactics is lying. We know that he’s good at it. He’s a master of disguise, and he wields a silver tongue. When he accuses us of not being “good” enough, or “pretty” enough, or whatever, he’s getting us to believe his line of crap for the simple purpose of isolation and distraction. Once we’re distracted, we lose heart and fall away from following Christ.
We have power, though. Believers have the power of Jesus on the cross. We have the counsel of the Holy Spirit. We have the unreasonable love of God the Father. We have each other. We CAN resist the diversions. We CAN avoid the chaos. We CAN frustrate the devil and resist his schemes.
I don’t know about you, but I think we should.
