|
Do you feel as though the enemy
of your soul has been badgering you,
and gaining ground in the process? If so, take heart. By the Spirit of
the Living God, you have the power to overcome him.
Each afternoon, my husband and I
grab a cup of coffee, trek
outside, and sit on the porch. We love watching the critters: birds,
raccoons, deer, rabbits, etc. And this time of year is especially
enjoyable because most of the animals have begun to bring out their
babies. They’re so precious!
One particular afternoon, I
heard a juvenile hawk squawking
in the woods. Moments later, I spied him circling overhead (little
booger wanted my babies), and there were two sparrows in his path.
My breath hitched, and I worried
what would happen to them. Run, little birdies. Run.
Okay, I know birds don’t run,
but that’s what came to mind.
Within
seconds, one of the sparrows soared up high, swooped down, and latched
onto the hawk’s back. The little bird thrust his beak against the back
of the hawk’s neck.
Then the second sparrow dove in,
and he, too, took a jab and then darted away.
Talk about tag teaming.
Right after that, the original
sparrow, still clinging to
the back of his attacker, released the hold, flew up, swept back down,
and again poked him in the back of the neck.
The poor hawk wobbled in flight,
shrunk back for a moment,
and seemed visibly shaken, as though he didn’t know whether to go
right, left, up, or down.
I sat in amazement as I observed
the power these two
sparrows held over their enemy. Actually, I began to feel sorry for the
hawk, especially when he ducked his head a few times. I mean, can you
imagine having a hard, pointy beak rammed against the back of your
neck?
Shudder.
Speaking of empathy, we should
invoke the same thing in our
readers. If we can get them to root against our antagonist, yet at the
same time feel a degree of compassion and understanding for said
character, we stand a good chance of keeping them turning the pages.
And penning plenty of action—with lots of conflict—doesn’t hurt,
either.
Speaking of conflict, the
sparrows came back for another
round. They dive-bombed the hawk and picked at his wings, multiple
times, and the predator finally fluttered away.
It was then that the Lord showed
me something.
The birds’ power to defend
themselves is in their beaks, as
well as their claws. They can latch onto all kinds of objects with
those talons. Their fancy flying maneuvers don’t hurt, either. It’s the
way God designed them.
But God’s word says that we’re
more valuable than many sparrows, so how much more will he equip us?
“But the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Fear ye
not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows,” (Matthew
10:30-31 KJV).
Isn’t that amazing?
So when a hawk (the enemy of our
souls) comes against us,
and he seems too big to overcome, God has given us a means of defense,
too, and it’s much greater—the scriptures.
God’s word is alive, powerful,
and sharper than any
two-edged sword, much more than the beak of a small bird. And it’s the
scriptures we should quote, especially in these types of situations.
The enemy may not leave right away, but each time we cite God’s word
(the Sword of the Spirit), we deliver a neck-crushing blow to that
nasty Beelzebub. Poke. Poke. Poke.
I love that, don’t you?
And, like the sparrows, we must
never give up. We might have
to fly high, swoop down, and go into battle—multiple times—but
eventually, Beelzebub will have to flee, in Jesus’ name.
So keep on keeping on. If God be
for you, who can be against you?
May God continue to bless the
works of your hands.
|
