When the Lion Roars

One of my favorite movies is Out of Africa, starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. In one dramatic scene, Streep's character, Karen, is in the African plains and finds herself face to face with a hungry lion. The lion is stronger and more fierce but Karen has determination and a whip. When she exerts her authority (and some attitude) with that whip, the lion goes running back into the darkness. You go girl!

Like Karen, I see myself as a fairly courageous and independant woman. It's taken some effort to get here, but I can usually stand up straight when facing most of life's challenges. That is, unless there's a hungry lion coming at me....

Last weekend I had the awesome opportunity to speak at a women's retreat. The theme was Team God. As speaker and 'head cheerleader' for the weekend, I shared with them how to get to know their 'Coach'. God showed up in a powerful way and our hearts were encouraged in His Presence.

However, on Sunday morning, just before the last session in which I was to speak, I began having vision problems. It was as if ripples of water were around the outer circles of my eyes making it difficult to see. As God would have it, there were two nurses on the retreat who came to my room to check on me. Long story short, before I knew it, one of the nurses was driving me to the emergency room (something about needing to rule out a stroke, brain tumor or a torn retina!). This thing was getting more dramatic by the minute.

The whole time this vision thing was going on I wavered between courage and fear; between peace and hysteria. It occurred to me that this medical emergency could also be a spiritual battle. It felt like the enemy was attempting to threaten and frighten me, just like the roaring lion from the movie. Would I let him replace my peace with fear? Would I stand and fight or lay down in defeat?

Are you familiar with 1 Peter 5:8? It says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." I was well aware of the roaring, devouring lion part of that verse, but what about the first part? In the middle of my pain and uncertainty, I sensed God saying to me, "Lisa, be self-controlled with your thoughts. You don't have to be afraid. You don't have to be devoured by fear. You can choose to trust me in this moment. Maybe you can't see very well, but I can."

So that's when, just like Karen in Out of Africa, I took out my whip. In this case, the roaring lion was satan and the whip was the Word of God. Luke 10:19 states, "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you." I stood before that threatening lion and cracked my whip! I stood on the Word and said, "Not today, satan. I live under the cross of Jesus Christ. I will not be afraid."

With the crack of the whip, that lion went running back into the darkness. I received peace. God gave me courage in the midst of a scary situation.

Praise God, my vision scare was short lived. My vision returned to normal and it turns out I was experiencing my first (and hopefully last) migraine.

I find that sometimes in life God swoops in and saves us from the enemy before we're even aware of the threat. But sometimes, He wants us to participate in the victory so He lets us face the beast and He hands us a whip. When we choose to believe God and stand on His Word, it's like cracking a whip at that hungry lion. As soon as the lion learns he's not getting us for dinner, he runs back into the darkness.

Are you facing a roaring lion? Could it be that satan is threatened by your ministry or your relationship with God? Is your boldness or courage at stake? As a Christian you have authority in Christ to tame that lion. Now get out there and practice cracking that whip!