Face to Face with a Bobcat
The other day I was invited to a quiet retreat
at the home of a dear friend. It was an uplifting and constructive
day for me. I spent the entire retreat time sitting on her back
porch overlooking the beautiful garden and pool. There was wind,
rain and sunshine…a perfect day with our Lord.
Earlier in the day, one retreat-ant told about a rabbit she saw down by the pool.
She made the distinction that it was very special because it was not a bunny—you
see those every day in these parts. In the afternoon, as I sat pondering the
wonder and blessings of God in my life, I caught a glimpse of an animal of some
sort strolling down by the pool. I could only see the tips of its ears and I
wondered if that could be the rabbit my friend had seen earlier. I had to find
out.
I wandered down to the pool and looked around the hedge expecting to see a large
rabbit, but staring back at me was a wild bobcat. I quietly moved away, and after
I thought I was far enough from his sight I started running back toward the house.
I went to find our retreat hostess to inform her of our intruder. I didn’t
even have the word bobcat in my mind; I only knew I had seen a dangerous and
ferocious beast on the grounds. She looked into my eyes and listened to the beginning
of my explanation and finished my sentence while I searched for the words to
describe the beast I had encountered. She knew that I had seen her bobcat. The
neighborhood has hired some wildlife specialist to take care of the bobcats.
Traps are set and decisions regarding their best relocation have been decided.
She told me the bobcat was more afraid of me than I was of him. I went back to
my safe place on the porch and she went down by the pool to make sure he was
gone.
This experience reminded me of the way we are told to deal with Satan. God knows
He is there. He is on it. He has a plan to get rid of him once and for all. He
has a place for him and he will put him there in the right time. In the meantime,
God tells us how to not be afraid of Satan and how to co-exist while his presence
is a part of our reality.
1 John 5:18 tells us, "We know that anyone born of God does not continue
to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm
him." I didn’t need to be afraid of that bobcat who disturbed
my beautiful day with God. I was safe. He just looked scary, but really I scared
him off before my friend could get down there. He knew I was bigger than he was
and he wanted to get away from me as soon as he could. I could have gotten too
close and aggravated him; then he would have felt provoked and may have tried
to harm me. But, my size alone was intimidating to him.
Sometimes we put too much focus on Satan. He is real. He is mean. He is out to
do us harm. All of that is true. But he has little power over us. We have power
through the one born of God—Jesus Christ. He is keeping us safe from the
evil one. He will not let him harm us if we do what he says. Don’t provoke
him. Don’t go after him. Just stand firm with your belt of truth, your
breastplate of righteousness, your shoes of peace, helmet of salvation, shield
of faith and sword of the Spirit, and you will stand face to face with Satan
and not be harmed. In fact, he’ll run for the bushes each time.
|
