1 Peter 5:8 – 10
“8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
9 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.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

“Hush my darling, don’t fear my darling
The lion sleeps tonight
Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh”

A gentle lion, sleeping outside the village. Probably because he is full. If he wasn’t full, he wouldn’t be resting, he’d be hunting. The village is safe for now, but the lion will get hungry again and the village won’t be resting so easy until the lion is full again. But Satan has an insatiable appetite, he is never full, never rested; there’s never any peace in the village.

Yet we think there is; we call this world peaceful. We worry about “bad people”, anomalies we call them, but all in all, it’s ok. We don’t recognize that this is so far from peace. Out of the west, it’s a far different world. Out of the suburbs it’s a far different world. Out of a normal life it’s a far different world. A world full of fear, pain, addiction, darkness. It’s out there, and from experience, I bet it’s inside of you too. That is not peace.

That is the roaring lion of evil devouring. It is this world as it has become.

There is an upside, and it’s rich in opportunity, rich in hope, rich in joy, and yes, rich in peace. It is the hope, it is the reality, that we will be restored, that through this all, we will see God’s perfect plan. He will not forsake us. No matter what happens, this promise is true.

We can carry this peace, this security, this love, this knowledge into a world of fear, pain, addiction, more, to make a difference, to push back the darkness.

Christ will not forsake us. Christ will push back the darkness completely some day, taking all its practitioners with it. Until that day though, we are to be the light. We are to push back the darkness through our thoughts, words and deeds. Action. Love. Like Christ showed us. With the grace Christ gave us. We can overcome the lion, one act at a time.

Hush my darling, don’t fear my darling
The lion sleeps tonight
Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh