The Roaring Lion

THE ROARING LION

1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

If there was ever a time when Satan’s roaring could be heard it is in our present day. Everywhere you turn, no matter what you read or what position you hold in life, Satan’s roaring is loud and convincing to the human heart. Even God’s people, who know the voice of God, can often be found cowering in fear at the intimidating roar of Satan.

Which of us has not heard the roar of Satan’s voice? I would dare say that everyone of us has heard his roar this very week. Perhaps even right now you are hearing his roar in your ear, in your mind and in your heart. His roar strikes terror and fear into the ear that will hear him, into the mind that will meditate upon that roar and into the heart that allows his roaring to take root.

Just what am I saying? In the simplest terms I know, Satan’s greatest weapon that he uses to convince mankind to do his will is the roar of his voice! The noise of his roar is always a sound that appeals to the nature of man who desires to do evil. Satan never ceases to roar – to scream in your ear, in every attempt to drown out the sound of the voice of God, or to make the wooing of the Holy Spirit go unnoticed in the heart of every man.

Satan roars in the workplace! He roars in the marketplace! He roars in your own home! He roars in your ear as you drive down the highway! He roars in your ear in the doctor’s office! He roars in your ear even as you sit in the church! He never quits roaring! Most people don’t even realize what his roar is all about. They don’t hear anything! I don’t hear any lion right now! WHEN THIS MESSAGE IS OVER I BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL BEGIN TO SEE THAT SATAN NEVER QUITS ROARING AND THAT YOU HEAR HIM ALL THE TIME, YOU JUST DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS HIM.

How does Satan roar in your workplace? He roars when you catch wind of the latest gossip about a layoff that is coming. He roars when you hear of cutbacks, downsizing and reductions in force. He roars when you hear of by-outs, changes in administration and a myriad of other ways. It’s not the news of these things that is so bad, but it is the roar of Satan in your ear that says that all of these things will affect you negatively.

Illustration:

On the job where I work, there is a never-ending flow of gossip. It’s so easy to start that it is just unbelievable. Not long ago I was joking with one of my fellow workers about a situation on our job. I made a simple statement that there would likely be more lay-offs before the summer ended. Little did I know how quickly he would key in on what I said. Within a few minutes he went into a rage as fear struck his heart that he would be among those who would be fired. He became so angry that he was going to the General Superintendent to tell him off. Now that’s the way to really get fired! I had to quickly tell him that it wasn’t true lest he ran off and got both of us into trouble. We both laughed about it and it was soon forgotten - or was it? That man was gone from that job within a few months. He retired early! I often wonder if my words that day had enough impact upon him to help him make the decision to bail out while he could. The lay-offs never came, but he was gone just the same.

I learned that day that you cannot “joke” with a lot of people for they are too susceptible to the “roaring lion”. Satan has them so “gun shy” (to use a hunter’s terminology), or so frightened that the least little thing will send them into a panic.

Notice one thing! When Satan is roaring, he can’t be biting! The scripture doesn’t say that Satan goes around biting, ripping and tearing his victims to pieces. He doesn’t have to. His roar is all that he needs! We will rip our own lives to pieces, tear our own faith apart, and allow the bite of sin to destroy our soul just because we listen to his roar.

What does the roar of the lion do? There a several things that it does. His roar warns everyone around that the “King of the Jungle” is speaking. His roar is meant to strike fear into his enemies that he is hungry and after them. His roar is also meant to scare away anyone who comes to interfere with him as he devours the prey that he has already killed. His roar is simply meant to strike fear and terror in the heart of every other creature that hears him.