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Strike in Weakness
1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
Every person has a weakness, but your weakness does not define your integrity and identity. Satan seeks to uncover your weakness and to strike at it. The first solution is to strengthen your weakness through prayer and the Word. For example, if you struggle with lust, find every scripture concerning love and lust and apply God’s Word as well as pray it. The second solution is to guard your weakness, not leaving it unprotected. For example, do not allow social media, television or computers to open the door to pornography, forming a horrible addiction while placing an extremely negative outlook on others.
There are three examples of scripture of how Satan operates: a snake, scorpion and lion. Satan acts as a Great Serpent in two ways: through poison and constriction. In Acts 28:1-7, Paul overcame the poison of a serpent when it struck and latched onto his hand while he was laying sticks on the fire. He shook it off into the fire because he prepared a place for a fire to remain constant! Snakes stir in heat, and they strike towards vibration. Satan is not threatened by your words but by your movement! The people on the island thought karma had come to get the best of Paul, but after seeing that he was unharmed, they thought of him as a god. It was another opportunity to minister the gospel.
The blood of the Lamb serves as the greatest anecdote and antivenom against snakes (Revelation 12:11). Multiple scriptures metaphorically indicate the poison of snakes as negative, deadly words (Psalm 58:4; 140:3; Romans 3:13-14; James 3:8). The blood of the Lamb stands against those word curses as His new covenant pronounces blessings of salvation and deliverance!
In Numbers 21:4-9, we read where God sent poisonous snakes among the children of Israel as judgment for their complaining. They recognized their sin and repented, and instead of God taking away the serpent, He provided a way for them to be healed because if they truly repented, they would not let the serpent take them out. So God instructed Moses to make a brazen serpent to wrap around a pole, which represents Christ who died for all of the sins of this world in His humanity, and when those who had been bitten looked upon that image, they would be healed (John 3:14).
In Acts 16:16-34, Paul and Silas came across a woman that was bound by a spirit of divination. She was a fortuneteller. In the original Greek, this “spirit of divination” could also mean “spirit of python.” A spirit of python is one that would try to limit you in a box, speaking death over your future and purpose. The only way to get out of a python’s grip is for someone else to come to your aid, which would be Jesus Christ! Paul and Silas would overcome by the word of their testimony (Revelation 12:11), even declaring God’s goodness at the midnight hour while bound in prison. It is the testimony of Jesus that serves as a spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10).
Another example of how Satan attacks is that of a scorpion. Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” Just as snakes, scorpions are attracted to movements and vibrations. They clinch their prey with their pincers so they cannot move while they inject venom. Scorpions’ prey is small. Therefore, do not minimize who you are in Christ!
Scorpions will come when you move in the wrong direction. Lust when it is conceived results in the grip of sin, and sin, when it is finished injecting its poison, brings forth death (James 1:15). Satan will blind you to lust’s damage while only showing the “feel good” moments, but safe guard yourself with the Word. God gave you the authority to tread on the scorpion. Use it!
The final example is that of a lion. 1 Peter 5:18 says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Lionesses hunt for the Lion and go after the weakest. We must adopt the strategies of a lion and attack the enemy at his weakest point. Satan’s weakest point is your praise, because you remind him of the position he lost in heaven, demonstrating that you are his replacement. The roar of the lions is used to communicate and mark territory. Your roar is the sound of your praise, both in words and through your life. It is when you declare the Word of God in faith, showing your adversary what territory belongs to you!
How do people defend themselves against a lion? Here are the strategies:
1) In the event that someone encounters a lion, he must never, never, never turn his back on the lion, because the moment he turns or runs, he will be attacked. Anyone running from a lion will instantly be chased down, overtaken, and slain by this king of the beasts. This is what it means to “resist stedfast in the faith”.
2) When you are facing a lion, you must raise your hands and begin making loud noises. In other words, your praise increases your stature, magnifying the Spirit of God who rests inside of you.
3) When facing a lion, stay together as a group and do not make any sudden movements as it can be interpreted as a sign of fear. In Kenya, a tribe exists which trains their boys how to take on lions. A young boy is given a large spear and placed on the outskirts of the village, and when the lion sees the boy, he stands perfectly still, staring down the lion. Eventually the lion will make a sudden move toward the lad, who is trained and prepared to thrust the spear into the heart of the leaping lion. We must be trained to fight our adversary, and the greatest advice to follow is to stand still. (Psalm 46:10)
How can you fear the one who appears as a roaring lion when you have the Lion of the Tribe of Judah on your side?