The Roar

The Roar

12/8/17

Our ears are a special gift from God in that He has given us a tool for us to use against an approaching enemy or storm.  If we were not able to hear, we would continually be on the lookout so that we would not be caught off guard.  Ears give us a sense of warning but at some point, this gift can cause heighten fears that we harbor our lives as well.  If we do not understand our enemy well enough he will gain access to the inner portions of our existence and continuously torture us with our weaknesses.  God knows this detail about us and has provided a perfect solution for us to defend ourselves against such cruelty but we need to harbor this truth in our hearts and minds at all times so that we can use this weapon when the enemy attacks.  The storms are coming and the enemy is roaring but will we utilize the eternal truth as our defense or will we rely upon sinking sand?

Most people are not too keen when storms approach their parts of the world and rightfully understood.  For the impending uneasiness of the outdoors ruptures the quietness and stillness and produces such a fearful fright that would unnerve even the calmest person’s peace.  I have mentioned many times previously that this weirdo actually loves storms and every chance I get look out of the window to see every aspect of the storm as it passes.  However, I have to admit that sometimes even my unusual curiosity about storms is caught off guard and I become a tad nervous as the house or car shake due to the effects of the storm.  I forget that man has built fortifications that can withstand most of the storms that we encounter and provide such a shelter when the storm time arrives.  There is not many of us out there who have not thought about our lives ending while such violent storms cross our paths, this is a natural process but one that really changes how a person thinks at that moment. 

No matter what the conditions may be, we know that we have a protection above our heads that gives us the correct amount of coverage when bad times occur.  And when the storm is over and the waves are settled, we can emerge from our homes and see what we have been protected from once again, a peaceful feeling when we realize that we are alive and have survived another attack.  God knows exactly where each one of His children is at and what they are going through, it does not matter what time of the day it may be or if it is winter or summer. God never leaves us no matter how fierce the roar of any storm may be to our ears.  We also know that not every storm is a natural occurrence, but one that attacks our spirits and while the physical storms are frightening enough many times the spiritual roaring that our enemy surrounds us with is so specific and unique that it stops us in our tracks and complete fear overtakes our lives, a condition that our eternal Father does not wish for any of His children to face alone.

Each day, many of us face trials and difficult situations that have nothing to do with the weather and the unsettledness it can offer, but these storms are produced inside our lives and become individual and personal and present the most danger to our lives.  Many of us suffer through these storms alone without anyone to help simply because we have not confided these issues with any other person, others deal with these settings quite the opposite by letting everyone know but whatever the circumstance may be the storm that rages within always weighs heavy on our hearts and takes its toll while those sounds increase in closeness.  These attacks come strictly from our eternal enemy and are precise in their target for the devil knows exactly where your weak points are and when times of difficulty come our way he does not have any mercy.  1 Peter 5:8 is a verse that addresses this venture of our enemy and it gives us the perfect picture to keep in our hearts and minds when he brings these storms to our lives. For if any condition of our hearts varies when he attacks our chances of overcoming these whimsical sounds become slim, a very unusual statement to make but it holds true and needs to be understood for our defense.

1 Peter 5:8 states: “Be sober, Be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”.  Here we have another short yet powerful verse that is filled with multitudes of information.  We are going to stick with the small portion of the roaring issue and how it makes us feel when this type of storm approaches from the spiritual aspect of life.  How often do we react accordingly when we understand that some type of major weather change is headed our way or how do we act when an upset of a supposed winner occurs?  It is quite well known that when certain events and conditions do not turn out as we expect them to often upset our balance which then it becomes an opportunity to either shine or be degraded, in either result, it is our choice to respond appropriately.  What we most repeatedly forget is that when we do act on these results others take notice of our actions and have their own actions as well, certainly signifying a unity or division in which case all actions produced directly show our preparedness for any outcome, no more is true than how we understand and then react to our spiritual and eternal enemy.

1 Peter 5:8 is a perfect example of how we should be ready for such an attack by our enemy and if we do not understand what is truly going on then we are susceptible to his attacks and will be injured when it does arrive.  Our ears serve as a great protection device of dangers that are approaching and sometimes they provide the first defensive response to an incoming issue.  Without our ears, we would be limited to how we conduct our lives including where we go and what we would be able to complete.  Limited communication would be at best and our reliance on others would greatly increase.

Ever been to the zoo?  The lions and tigers area is one of the most popular attractions at a zoo and when getting to this area most of the time it is packed with people and it can be hard to see the animals desired.  But have you noticed that many times during the day the lions and tigers are not around and cannot be seen?  You can stand there for what seems like forever and they are not around or they are crashed out at the far corner of their area providing a difficult position to be noticed.  Yet, after you give up hope and walk away, at some point later your ears hear their roar, frustrating I know but this type of scene has played out numerous times when I have visited the zoo.  It is the sound that the lions and tigers make that grabs our attention and allows us to react appropriately.  We know that those animals are in a specific area and cannot escape, but it is the sound they make that puts us on alert, or it should.  How many of us do not even pay attention to that sound because we feel like we are in a comfort zone?  I would venture to say that much more than not fall into this dangerous category.

We never know when our enemy is going to come against us and when we most expect his presence and when we are looking for him to do something, he does not show up.  We cry victory and dance around with complete joy thanking God that our enemy was showed back to the point where he did not even show his face in our lives.  At no time can we afford to relax when it comes to our enemy for it is at this time that he strikes, it does not matter what our current circumstances might be it is our duty to be sober and vigilant when it comes to our enemy and his presence.  He understands the gift of hearing and he will use it to his advantage if we allow it.

A roaring lion’s sound is very distinctive and it can travel a great distance and it is an effective weapon of acknowledgment to any creature that can hear.  For every animal that hears this sound, it should grab their attention and they should immediately look to see in which direction the sound came for if they do not the enemy has already detected their presence and knows who is paying attention and taking the appropriate measures and who is not.  When one believes that they are the king of the area it is easy for others to take notice when this king decides to make his presence known.  Our enemy is doing the exact same thing and we shall fall prey to his viciousness if we do not pay attention AND then understand what to do after the sound touches our ears.  But how many times do we forget that this enemy has no teeth and has already been defeated, so why do we give up so easily and give him direct control over our lives?

There is a huge difference between the animal kingdom’s reactions to a lion or tiger than the human aspect of things because while animals must ensure their safety by leaving the area for their own protection we do not have to run at all for we can stand and fight off the enemy.  But in order for us to be able to accomplish this feat, we must first recognize the enemy’s roar and then know how to defend and push back him when he does arrive.  God has given us the physical ability to hear and He has also given us the spiritual ability to hear as well.  When used in combination with the words of the Bible, we have the perfect defense for any attack that the devil may bring but once again, if we ignore the truth and the ways of protection we will have no mechanisms of defense when he comes and we will be ripped to shreds, all the time spiritually and many times physically.

We must remember that when our enemy roars it is a warning sign, he is close by and he is looking for someone to attack.  His storm (presence) is not there yet but it is approaching.  A lie that many people in the Church have become believers in is that the world is their friend and that it is ok to accept some of the world’s standards into the Church and into their lives.  The devil does not represent ANYTHING about God and he cannot bring any peace or tranquility to a setting, period!  What he sets before you may look genuine but in truth, it is harmful and eventually will cost you your life.  This “genuine” piece of presentation is a roar and we need to recognize it as such.  It is exactly what 1 Peter 5:8 is talking about and describing.  It is our responsibility to recognize this process and to know how to defeat it BEFORE it enters into our lives.  Anytime, ANYTIME that something is presented to us as “normal” or that it should be “normal” and it does not line up with the Word of God it is a roar.  And if we accept this roar to be true then we have allowed our enemy to gain access to our lives and it is a guarantee that at some point down the road or right at that moment he shall strike.

This is not a new trick that Satan uses for it was written about a long time ago which means that it was present during that day and since it is the Word of God that tactic was present during Old Testament eras as well.  A point that needs to be addressed here is that if this procedure of our enemy has been around for so long why is it so difficult for us to recognize it?  It began in the Garden of Eden and it continues today that is a long time to stay ignorant people.  If one really studies this specific verse in 1 Peter, they can almost hear the frustration in Peter’s voice due to the lack of understanding of a truth that had been around for millennia.  So, why are we not hearing such frustration from pastors today concerning this topic?  It is because we have continued to live off the sweetness of God’s milk and have refused to accept His meat!  And for that continued failure, we shall witness one of the greatest farces then destructions known to mankind.

You want to know why that so many people are without peaceful conditions in their lives today?  This verse and its explanation give us the reasons why we have ignored the roaring of our enemy and have graciously accepted his offerings of “peace” instead of recognizing them for what they truly are.  Look at these gifts that he has offered and that we have accepted during our historical lives, have they brought any peace to our personal lives or to our world?  We have strayed so far off course that we do not even recognize what is transpiring in our world today, we fail to see the bleeding conditions that each economy is facing, we fail to understand that this moral decay is affecting everyone all sides of the aisle, not just one side.  Countless natural disasters contribute to this bloodletting and to top it all off and what is the most disturbing is that the number of people who call themselves Christians yet live by worldly standards is rising but at the same time church buildings are shutting their doors because pastors and priests are nowhere to be found.  HELLO!!!!!  We have missed the roars of the enemy and now we are seeing the results of our ignorance.

Church, you are not sober and you are not vigilant to the truth, you have allowed the ambitions of the world influence your heart to believe in worldly truth and to abandon the Truth.  We have become comfortable with the sound of the roar amongst us and have even accepted it as a sound to enjoy instead of fear.  We now do not believe that our enemy is a danger to us, so much that we have been convinced by the roars that the Truth is a lie and should be ignored and discarded.  Each day we see the reaping of the choices of roaring acceptances and yet we still fail to understand what is going on and that there is a way for it all to be forgiven and eternally forgotten.  The roar of our enemy is always around and while its noise is just that we cannot afford to become lax when our ears hear this distinctive sound.  Our enemy has one goal and he will do whatever it takes to obtain that goal.  A roaring lion is not a good sound to hear for the lion is making such sound for a reason.  Our enemy is doing the exact same thing and we need to keep on guard at all times for if we do not we will fall as prey.

There is a contemporary band called “Skillet”.  I do not know if you have heard of them or not but their beat and lyrics are of a rock style group.  A few years back they released a song entitled “American Noise” that basically described the day-to-day activities of the hustle and bustle of this society.  Now, if you do not play their video of the song you will not understand what occurs at the end of the song that relates to this topic and article.  Up until a few months ago, I had not watched the video but felt like I needed to and when I did I understood what God was saying to my heart and what it would mean for this topic.

At the end of the song and video, there is a lion on the left side of the screen and a young child on the right side of the screen.  The lion has his mouth open with his teeth showing and his eyes are smartly fixed at the girl.  It is obvious that he is growling and making ugly noises towards the girl, a sight that would bring instant fear in many of our lives and rightly so.  However, the girl has a very determined look on her face and is making a huge gesture to the lion.  Her lips are closed and her index finger is on her lips and it is clear that this girl is telling the lion to be quiet.  It is this gesture that we need to be doing to our enemy when he roars and tries to bring his kingdom into our lives.

Church, if this picture depicts a young child knowing how to handle the enemy in front of her properly, why haven’t we figured things out like she has?  Why have we felt sorry about the lion and his roar instead of understanding that he is the enemy and does not have any authority to even breathe around us?  Why have we basically thrown away our adoption status in God and taken up with the person who created the separation from God in the first place?  Church, it is our responsibility to ignore the world’s gifts (roars) and to teach the people that God loves them and paid an eternal price for this unity with Him.  We have been misguided (lied to) to believe that it is okay to have a relationship with the world and God.  This is an eternal lie that will cause our lives to be separated from God.  This is not a game or a subject to be taken lightly and it is our responsibility to first understand what it means to be sober in the spirit so that we can be vigilant in listening for and then dealing with our enemy.

How can we completely defend ourselves or even partially defend ourselves if we have ignored this roaring from our enemy?  When our trials and problems arise how can we hear what God is saying to us if we do not look at the person making the noise and giving him the “shhhh” sign to be quiet?  It does not matter what kind of noise (roar) that our enemy makes, God has the answer to all of our worries but we need to have a clear hearing space in order for us to hear and we cannot do this unless we have control over the noise.  God’s Word gives us the information we desperately need to do this task, in fact, when we study the Bible without prejudice and apply the content to our lives it allows us to become sober in the spirit and when this occurs it will give us the knowledge to be vigilant against the kingdom of Satan.

DLB