There is a bible verse that has been rattling around my head today. It is 1 Peter 5:18, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

I believe the devil, like the lion, preys on the weak, the sick, those that feel they are defenseless. There is no greater time when I feel powerless than when I am overtired and not feeling well physically. This is how I have felt today. I woke up feeling great but as the day progressed, my stomach began to bother me and my lower GI tract decided it wanted to keep me on my toes, if you get my drift. Perhaps it was something I ate yesterday or something potentially “going around”. It could even just be a reaction to a couple of days of not-so-good sleep. Whatever the case may be, I am not feeling myself this very moment and I can feel the darkness hovering, prowling, waiting, and watching.

The devil will cloud the mind with thoughts that go against everything you strive to attain. Do you have plans for the day? The devil will whisper in your ear, “Not today. Not worth it, why not just forget it.” Do you have a weakness of some kind you have been struggling to overcome? The devil loves those, “You feel like crap, I know what will make you feel better. Just this once, promise, and it will all be OK.” The devil is a liar, the father of lies and his only purpose is to get you to give in to your natural, carnal impulses and choose sin over obedience to God.

Being a Christ-follower, I know what the devil is up to. Being a man, I have fallen victim to his whispers before. Looking back, the whispers always seem to some under similar circumstances. When I’m tired, when I’m not feeling well physically or when I am not feeling well mentally. The devil waits, like a lion, stalking his prey unit they are most vulnerable and least likely to be able to defend themselves, then he strikes. He is very good at what he does.

As good as the devil is at these sneak attacks, as a Christ-follower, I have a the armor of God. Ephesians 6 lays it all out for me. The whole armor of God is necessary to completely protect oneself against the devil but Ephesians 6:16-17 tell us to of the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (the Bible and Jesus). So the devil may be good at being evil but he is not God and as long as we stand firm in out faith, especially during those moments of our weakness, we can know that God is with us and has our back.

It makes feeling crappy as I do right now not really as bad as it could be. It also reminds me that in my weakness, God is stronger still and that is comfort on a whole different level.

Praise be to God.