Lions

Sadly, I’ve never stood on the Serengeti. Many fortunate travelers rave about safari adventures, but I’m not one of them. To be up close and personal with a giraffe, rhino or hippo, or reeling off photos of gazelle pounding down the savannah is something witnessed only in movies. Visiting a zoo is the closest many of us get to these exotic creatures.

I may never have seen the dark continent, but I have explored dire wildernesses of soul; scorching wastelands of drought and disgrace. I've journeyed through dense social jungles where creeping things lie concealed in the undergrowth and one wrong move is deadly. There is a realm of spirit in life where we encounter territories and creatures both singularly, stunningly beautiful, and sensuously, unspeakably dangerous. Suddenly, we are face-to-face with beasts, behemoths, monsters or tyrants no childhood fairy-tale ever trains you for. Sooner or later, you'll hear the roar of the king of beasts. You will come face to face with the lions.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Any believer worth their salt presents a challenge Satan cannot resist. Our mortal enemy, this great beast of wickedness, cannot be ignored. Satan loathes the devoted heart of a simple, sincere faith, so every malignant effort is levied to make our existence complicated, treacherous, bitter and contentious. Temptation, trial, testing, and persecution are flung at us on a regular basis. He blasts with a sustained ferocity that can deeply undermine our faith, causing us to question everything. Many fall under the constant, heinous onslaught. All we can do is to be aware, and sturdy our soul against the particular attack of trying circumstances, soul destroying losses or outrageous injustices that wages at any given moment.

Here at the end of March, 2021, it’s the anniversary of a full year of pandemic. The besiegement of twelve solid months of media, medicine and mayhem seems to escalate without an end in sight. Immunization is not the salvation we longed for. We are unspeakably weary and alarmingly vulnerable. Now, more than ever, we must stand strong against the vicious, intimidating snarl.

Now is not the time to forget about the Lion of Judah. Jesus has many titles and offices, but this is one of my all-time favorites. The Lamb of God doesn't often let loose in the kind of sound that shatters your eardrums, so when He does come like a fierce and bounding feline to the call of His people, you won't want to miss it. It's the gratifying moment of vindication that makes all the suffering worthwhile.

And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.

So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” Revelation 5:1-2

Remember this. Days of Covid have not caught the Lord flat-footed. The Lion of Judah roars back against any onslaught with fresh promises for the future. He has things prepared for the days to come we cannot even imagine. Even now, counter-measures are in motion.

In the night, when I rest to sleep, I can feel the lions roving, seeking entrance. When your mind stills, all the deepest, darkest traumas of the subconscious rise in overwhelming flood. Dread, hopelessness and failure echo down the corridors. This is the moment that tests whether you walk in "the peace that passes understanding" or whether razor-sharp talons have merely been fobbed off by the day's tasks. The darkness will tell whether the Lion of Judah rules your spirit and keeps your mind, or not.

Believers are learning the discipline of standing strong in the Word of God when everything rages against it. All the young lions and lionesses yearn and learn their power as the Sons of God. Catch the wave-length of His authority at a brand-new level! Now, it's our turn to roar.

Their roaring will be like a lion, They will roar like young lions; Yes, they will roar and lay hold of the prey; They will carry it away safely, And no one will deliver. Isaiah 5:29

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