It has been my privilege to attend camp meeting most summers for most of my life. Some years ago I would attend at Lamoni, IA and take my bicycle along for early morning exercise. It was a challenge to keep up with the Amish buggies on the rural roads if I was facing a headwind.
One morning I was on a lonely road when something ahead caught my eye. Squarely in the middle of the road was a large dog challenging my idea of going past. He was doing his best to appear as large and scary as possible; he was barking as if he was a force to be reckoned with. Who would dare try to pass?
I paused and considered my options. I could turn around and go another direction. But I was curious to see where this particular road went. I could ignore him and go ahead, but I wasn’t eager to find out if he would actually bite. Then I noticed that he was operating on three legs. That was a significant detail. I figured if I got up some speed I could likely get past him without sustaining damage. He was limited in how fast he could run after me.
Maybe you have faced an adversary on a regular basis. Isn’t it just about every morning that we face the same old adversary? He attempts to intimidate us and keep us from pursuing forward motion. He does his best to appear scary and invincible. 1 Peter 5:8 pictures our adversary, the devil, strutting around roaring like a lion.
What does Peter suggest we should do in response? Take it seriously (v.8), but resist in faith (v.9), recognizing how much God cares for us (v.7).
The greatest evidence we have of the depth of God’s care for us is the sacrifice of Jesus, both in coming to be born on this earth and in dying for our sins. And the great news of the gospel is that Jesus was not intimidated by the adversary. He has overcome the devil, our adversary. Jesus overcame in the wilderness of temptation; He overcame in the Garden of Gethsemane; and He overcame at the cross. Jesus was resurrected and ascended to Heaven. Because of Jesus’ victory, we too can have hope in dealing with the adversary.
There is a beautiful, familiar promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13. For each temptation we face, God will make a way of escape. That sounds like God has a plan for us to get past our adversary, the devil. As we move forward in faith, God can open our eyes to see His deliverance. And for each victory, our confidence in His ability to see us through can increase. This summer I won’t be attending camp meeting in Iowa, but at Camp Yavapines near Prescott. Between June 9-11 you might like to take a day or two to have your own time of refreshment there.
Let’s not allow the obstacles before us to turn us around. As we daily grow in our confidence in God’s power, we can learn to trust Him more fully. That’s one battle that’s worth winning.