One hundred and sixty cm in length , 85 cm in shoulder height and weighing 36 kilograms, a North American timber wolf, in a group, preys on creatures up to 15 times bigger than itself. Roaming the forests, praires, and mountains, wolves have a reputation as a dangerous predator.
So if you were a bison, with a pack of wolves hovering around you, what exactly is the best way out? Really want to know the answer? Stand your ground. That’s right. If a targeted animal stands its ground, wolves either ignore it, or try to intimidate it into running. The moment an animal tries to run, the wolves will attack.
It seems very contrary to what one would think, but it seems to be that standing up to wolves is not just one lone example of standing up instead of running. In the mountains of America, an increase of the cougar population saw an increasing incidence of cougar attacks, some fatal. The advice first given out by the Division of Wildlife on what to do in a cougar attack was curl up, protect your face, and play dead. That advice didn’t work. It was changed to: FIGHT BACK. They changed their advice from trying to hide, to standing up and fighting.
It seems to be that running away is not always the order of the day. When faced with the foe, some situations call for one to stand up. Even the Scriptures have something to say about standing up.
Jas_4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The Greek word for ‘resist’ means to ‘stand against.’ Stand against the devil and he will flee from you. Just like the animal who stands his ground against a pack of wolves has a better chance of survival, so do we, if we stand our ground against Satan.
Before we start jumping around, however, there are conditions to ensure that the devil flees from us when we stand our ground. Right before the sentence, “Resist the devil . . .”, is the key. “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” That sentence is the key. In order for us to be victorious, we have to submit to God and his will, and then we have to stand our ground when Satan comes.
The apostle Paul gives similar advice in Ephesians 6:13.
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
It’s a little useless standing without being prepared. Paul’s message was to take the WHOLE armour of God so that you would be able to stand, and then STAND.
That mighty bison has a pretty hard head and thick coat. In fact, it would probably be pretty interesting to watch a clip of two of them fighting. They charge at each other full speed and collide their heads together. If a wolf got in the way, it could be easily killed, however, the moment that bison tries to run, it exposes itself to harm because it no longer can use its armoury to defend itself. All it can do is run with the wolves snapping at its flanks.
The Christian has some pretty awesome armoury, far more impressive than that of a bison, yet it doesn’t matter whether we have it all on, if we won’t stand up. Something interesting to note about the armour of God, is that there is no armour to protect the back. Christian, you were not equipped to flee or to hide. You were equipped to stand and fight the enemy. To run and hide is defeat, no matter how well prepared. Make sure you have the armour of God and are submitted to God’s will, then stand and fight! The enemy cannot conquer such a Christian. Submit yourself therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. That’s a promise from our God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.
So if you were a bison, with a pack of wolves hovering around you, what exactly is the best way out? Really want to know the answer? Stand your ground. That’s right. If a targeted animal stands its ground, wolves either ignore it, or try to intimidate it into running. The moment an animal tries to run, the wolves will attack.
It seems very contrary to what one would think, but it seems to be that standing up to wolves is not just one lone example of standing up instead of running. In the mountains of America, an increase of the cougar population saw an increasing incidence of cougar attacks, some fatal. The advice first given out by the Division of Wildlife on what to do in a cougar attack was curl up, protect your face, and play dead. That advice didn’t work. It was changed to: FIGHT BACK. They changed their advice from trying to hide, to standing up and fighting.
It seems to be that running away is not always the order of the day. When faced with the foe, some situations call for one to stand up. Even the Scriptures have something to say about standing up.
Jas_4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The Greek word for ‘resist’ means to ‘stand against.’ Stand against the devil and he will flee from you. Just like the animal who stands his ground against a pack of wolves has a better chance of survival, so do we, if we stand our ground against Satan.
Before we start jumping around, however, there are conditions to ensure that the devil flees from us when we stand our ground. Right before the sentence, “Resist the devil . . .”, is the key. “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” That sentence is the key. In order for us to be victorious, we have to submit to God and his will, and then we have to stand our ground when Satan comes.
The apostle Paul gives similar advice in Ephesians 6:13.
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
It’s a little useless standing without being prepared. Paul’s message was to take the WHOLE armour of God so that you would be able to stand, and then STAND.
That mighty bison has a pretty hard head and thick coat. In fact, it would probably be pretty interesting to watch a clip of two of them fighting. They charge at each other full speed and collide their heads together. If a wolf got in the way, it could be easily killed, however, the moment that bison tries to run, it exposes itself to harm because it no longer can use its armoury to defend itself. All it can do is run with the wolves snapping at its flanks.
The Christian has some pretty awesome armoury, far more impressive than that of a bison, yet it doesn’t matter whether we have it all on, if we won’t stand up. Something interesting to note about the armour of God, is that there is no armour to protect the back. Christian, you were not equipped to flee or to hide. You were equipped to stand and fight the enemy. To run and hide is defeat, no matter how well prepared. Make sure you have the armour of God and are submitted to God’s will, then stand and fight! The enemy cannot conquer such a Christian. Submit yourself therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. That’s a promise from our God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.
