While many of us were enjoying a beautiful beach activity at this year’s U.S. Feast, a 10 year old girl was walking to a park a block away from her home. She planned to meet a friend and continue together to school. Jessica Ridgeway never made it to the park. She was abducted, subsequently murdered, then brutally dismembered. The murderer is still wandering about on the loose and the community is living in fear.
Satan was created perfect, he was anointed by God as a covering cherub. He was part of the splendor of heaven, he stood at God’s very throne (see Ezekiel 28:12-15). Today, Satan is the antithesis of all he was created to be. He is a ravenous beast with an insatiable desire to destroy all that God has created. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
We live in Satan’s Kingdom, in a realm growing darker and more insidious every day. Crimes that defy explanation, that are too gruesome to explain in detail, have become fodder for entertainment. Mankind deeply breathes in the air that Satan broadcasts his poison into. The result is separation from God.
But God can hold back the intentions of Satan. When Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, even King Darius knew the power God possessed: “But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, ‘Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you’” (Daniel 6:16). And God kept the beasts from Daniel. But to the false accusers of Daniel, those whom God’s Hand was not protecting, we read, “and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den” (Daniel 6:24).
We were created with the purpose of becoming part of the Family of God. Don’t forget that! God wants to protect us, to shield us from Satan. He requires one key ingredient, the willingness to continually serve Him. With that attitude we have nothing to fear from the beast constantly circling us.
