Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (I Peter 5:8-9)
Somewhere, I read that
one of the times that lions roar is to frighten prey. The male lion roars and the prey runs in the other direction, directly into the clutches of the lionesses, and “lunch is served.” This is not listed in the reasons for
lion roars, but location, coordination of efforts, and territorial claims are. However, all of the items they listed in the article dealt with lion-to-lion
communication, so I’m not discounting it entirely. For the people of Peter’s
day, I’m sure the roar of a lion produced fear in the people who heard it, as
it likely would today if the lion weren’t on TV or in a cage. Maybe even when
it is.
It’s unwise to take
metaphors too far, but last night, this passage brought to mind the role of
fear in our lives. For most of my life, I’ve heard dire predictions about this,
that, or the other bringing about the death of all or even the destruction of
the planet – and I’m not saying that there was not reason for at least a little
concern, but I suspect the lions were roaring. Bolting in the opposite direction
was unlikely to be the wise choice because lions often consider hunting as a
group activity.
I can’t help but think
that our enemy may also hunt in prides (or pride?) and sometimes roar to produce panic. Our response may invite further attack or make them hunt elsewhere. Standing firm in the faith – especially with
others – is a good starting place, at least until you get a better idea of
the details of the attack. The worst
thing we can do is panic and run.
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