Supernatural Alertness
How supernaturally alert are we? Balance seems to be hard to find in the life of the person following Christ. There are many areas in which we feel forced to accept one of two extremes on opposite sides of the spectrum. One of these areas of tension is supernatural beings. Do we deny them or obsess about them?
I love cats. I especially love to watch them when they stalk. I remember once, when I was sitting outside in our back yard studying a Bible passage about supernatural beings, Oreo, one of our cats who had been asleep on the table where I was working, jumped up. She began to stalk, creeping, creeping, now still and in position.
The dove Oreo was stalking was eating and pecking, doing what doves do. The bird was oblivious to my cat. As I watched in fascination, my wife came around the corner, saw what was going on, and yelled for the bird to watch out! The dove saw my wife and the cat, and off he flew.
Listen to what the Bible says about the devil, himself, in 1 Peter 5:8-10: “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 experienced by your brotherhood around 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.”
God describes Satan as a lion, ready to pounce as we go about normal life, picking and eating like the dove. God provides us with a powerful “Watch out!” He instructs us to be alert, because we do have a supernatural enemy as followers of Jesus Christ.
Although we don’t want to fixate on it, or sometimes even acknowledge it, on God’s word, we have active, supernatural resistance in our efforts to live lives that count for God’s kingdom and work. We seem to be at particular risk when we are dulled by everyday life, or while going through hard times.
By actively resisting Satan and his lies, the reward we receive is being personally restored, confirmed, strengthened, and established by God himself.
Rather than being like the dove, going through the motions of life, oblivious to the battle we are in, let us sharpen ourselves, alert for the next lie whispered in our ear. We stay sharp by focusing on Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross through which we receive eternal life, having regular time in God’s word, and connecting with God regularly through prayer and fasting. In these ways, we protect ourselves, ready to resist with the truth we have in God’s word, the sword of the Spirit. In this, we resist attack and stand strong in Christ.
In Christ,
Chris Heinss