The Patient Lion

Aaron and I have returned from our anniversary trip to Fort Myers, Florida. And this whole week I’ve struggled to readjust to freezing Ohio weather. A small taste of hot weather has made me grow impatient for summer! I mean only a few days ago I was on a beach getting sunburnt and now I’m here with a coat, gloves, hat, and boots shivering. It amazed me still that this complete temporal change could occur in only a two-hour flight.

While we were away, our massive dog, Kota was cared for and thoroughly spoiled by my parents. Now that I am home, she has demanded treats and has howled for extra attention. Just this morning, Kota was acting strange and wouldn’t leave me in peace, until I realized that her new toy was stuck under the couch. After retrieving it for her she became her normal less frenzied impatient self. Though her complete shift in character gave me something to think about.

As Christians we are called to be patient, in fact, it’s a virtue. But often, especially in America, patience is considered more of a gift or a skill than a commonality. Working with children has taught me patience, and having patience towards others is directly rooted in love as 1 Corinthians 13 states first, “love is patient…” Combine that with God being the very definition of love (1 John 4:8), and you will discover that God is patient.

Is patience only a righteous attribute?

Watching movies, particularly hero movies, I’ve discovered that the most dangerous villains often had spent years making the perfect plan, all the while the hero was unaware until almost too late, what the villain was scheming. A great deal of patience went into their master plan, bidding their time until the right moment to strike.

Satan is our sole villain and you can bet that his plans are just as crafty and thought out. He isn’t dumb, God didn’t create him that way. He was a high-rank angel, gifted in many ways, and when he was cast from heaven he didn’t go alone but had somehow influenced one-third of the angels to fall with him. And now, he has studied mankind and knows just how to snag us. His attacks are calculated, sometimes they are even subtle. A few small lies here, a few twisted words there, and after a while, all those mini lies end up closing up around you like the many tiny threads of a spider web, entrapping you in a slew of deception.

It’s the subtlety that can kill. There are many organisms or bacteria that can attack the body quite severely before a person is even aware of what has happened. And so what do we do to combat such tactics?

When you watch a predator stalking its prey there are two things warring against each other, it’s only a matter of what will cave first, either the prey’s defense will falter or the predator’s patience will run out. I guess you could say that it’s patience against patience because the first to move usually starts the attack. For example, if you break eye contact with a stalking tiger it will pounce, and if a lion takes a hurried step to soon the gazelle will hear it and take off.

To combat any calculated enemy you must first know how they attack. Just as satan has studied us we can easily study him in return. Second, we should be equipped at all times on how to defend ourselves and immediately stop satan in his tracks. Reading God’s Word, meditating on it as well as worshipping God and praying. Even seeking discernment wouldn’t hurt, though I believe that gift develops through first seeking God and building your relationship with Him.

Wear God’s armor at all times, and never let yourself become lazy or passive. It says that satan is a roaring lion seeking who he can devour. Be ever vigilant and take heart, satan stands defeated, we hold the authority as we patiently await the coming of Christ.

“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.”

-1 Peter 5:9

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