Resisting the Enemy

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

(1 Peter 5:8-11 ESV)

When it comes to the enemy, we tend to go to one of two extremes. There are those of us who fear him to an extreme. We don’t understand the power of God, and his power over Satan.  And, for this reason, we don’t trust in the power of God to overcome him.

However, there are also those of us who don’t seem to think he’s any real threat whatsoever. We recognize the power that God has over Satan and, because of this, we disregard him completely. We seem to downplay the danger he poses.

Scripture is clear that Satan is real. Scripture is clear that he’s a powerful being. And Scripture is clear that he poses a very serious threat.

It’s for this reason that Peter warns us, as he does, in the above passage. He tells us that we must be watchful and that we must be sober-minded. And we must do so because Satan is bent on destroying us.

He tells us that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion. He does so seeking someone to devour. His goal is our destruction. His intention is our ruin.

Peter, in this passage, seems to be referring to persecution in particular. And the enemy does use persecution in an effort to destroy our faith and hope. Yet, he can pursue his goal in other ways as well.

He may use temptation. He may target us where we most struggle, enticing us to sin. He may use our emotions. He may play off of our feelings of fatigue or despair to distract us from our hope. He may use the pressure of the world. He may use our sense of isolation and distinctiveness to cause us to bow under its weight.

For this reason, we’re called to resist him. We’re not to give in under the weight of his attack. We’re to continue our struggle against him every moment of every day. And we’re to do so no matter how things may outwardly seem.

We're to do so firm in our faith. And we’re to do so knowing that, even though things may be difficult, God will establish us. We’re to do so knowing that, although our circumstances are hard,  he will strengthen us and restore us.