“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.“
1 Peter 5:8-10 ESV
The Tsavo Maneaters were two male lions that terrorized a British effort to build a railway bridge over the Tsavo River in what is now Kenya. In March of 1898, they started dragging men from their tents to their deaths during the night. Efforts to frighten off the lions or keep them out of the camp failed. Scared for their lives, hundreds fled. Construction ground to a halt.
The leader of the project, Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson, began hunting the lions in order to protect his workers and complete his task. He set traps and started out by keeping vigil overnight from a tree.
Numerous Indian workers and Africans died before Patterson killed both lions nine months later and went on to later complete the bridge.
Unsuccessful attempts to kill the lions meant Patterson needed to adjust his plans. Failure wasn’t a deterrent! He stayed focused and persevered, knowing the lions threatened both the project’s mission and the safety of the people who labored to achieve it. The danger was real and present.
That sort of awareness and focus is so critical in our ministry to parents considering abortion!
Plenty of things can distract us from our mission. Legislation can pass, making it harder to defend the unborn. Our words about the value of every unborn life can fall on seemingly deaf ears or seem to be drowned out. We, and our efforts on behalf of the unborn and their parents, can be unfairly slandered.
But, ultimately, it doesn’t matter. The mission does. And Christ supplies us for the missions He gives us. He prepares and sustains us.
We must remain keenly focused on the spiritual battles ahead of us and rely upon God to help overturn Roe v. Wade in our hearts as a people, making abortion an unthinkable option for expectant parents and for our society at large. We must partner with Christ in His mission of compassion and mercy to seek and save the lost; He has already won the victory!
Because when we lose focus… When we fail to persevere… The adversary is there, waiting for someone to devour.
Please join Care Net this week as we pray:
- For the Lord’s guidance as we continue to move through a season of electing officials and legislators, that we would humbly seek the Lord’s will and serve Him with our votes.
- That we would not lose focus on those who are suffering in our midst for their faith and that Christ would strengthen us all as we seek to serve Him every day.
- That we would not lose heart whenever we meet resistance, but instead pray against the efforts of the Enemy and be encouraged that the Holy Spirit is still working in the hearts of women and men.