Our most recent winter weather has given me some thoughts about a little series that may be helpful to you as you move through this year. Just the other day I was driving Mary to some doctors’ appointments in a nearby city. We were delayed by a winter storm that came through, but made it to the appointments just fine. It was on the way home that we had a moment of anxiety. As we neared the turn to on to the overpass that leads to our subdivision, I saw the snow on the shoulders and did think that it was a little thicker than we had seen on the interstate. However, not until I actually got on the overpass did I think to watch out for some black ice. Sure enough it was there! I had slowed enough to only fishtail a little, however it was enough to give us both a little jolt.

That made me think a bit about how the devil likes to deceive us as a primary mode of attack. You know that black ice is a very generic term typically used to describe slippery road conditions. Black ice, sometimes called "glare ice" or "clear ice", typically refers to a thin coating of glazed ice on a roadway. While not truly black, it is transparent, allowing the usually black roadway to be seen through it, hence the term. It is unusually slick compared to other forms of roadway ice. Since it is “invisible” at first glance most folks are taken by surprise and find themselves unprepared and unable to avoid an accident. Think of that as you read today’s Scripture:

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith. (1 Peter 5:8-9a NIV).

The biblical picture of Satan is quite different from the popular one. In the Bible, he is not the comical cartoon creature with horns, tail, and pitchfork, ludicrously dressed in long red underwear. Rather, Satan is an adversary, who is clever, crafty, deceptive and dangerous. Satan knows our weakness and exploits them to great advantage against us. The Bible does not speak so much about the power of Satan as of his extreme subtlety, trickery and deceptiveness. He uses clever wiles, deceptive devices, wily stratagems and deceitful designs.

You may be thinking about now that this series is just another preacher trying to motivate through a negative means by describing the strength and prowess of our enemy. He is strong and very smart. After all, he has been around for thousands of years seeking our defeat. But, we have the answer to his attacks. Notice Peter says he is spoken of as a “roaring lion.” Lions, in their prime are amazing predators. They prowl and lie in wait for prey. Then without warning they will rush out of hiding, silently, swiftly catching and killing their victim. Young and old lions have something in common. They have a problem taking down their prey. When a lion is young it has small claws, short teeth and is really quite awkward. They have a very difficult time chasing down prey and catching it.  And once they do manage to catch something they usually have a difficult time killing it. Old lions suffer the opposite end of the lifecycle. They are slow and weak, have lost their teeth and claws and are unable to pursue and take down prey.