One of my new favorite shows to watch is Sarah Palin’s “Alaska” series on TLC. I have always admired her and especially enjoy seeing the personal side of her.
On a recent show she was caribou hunting with her father. Their first day of hiking over rough terrain produced nothing. However Sarah referred to something her father always says, “Hunting is about opportunity.”
What immediately came to my mind was the devil. I believe he uses that mindset when he goes after us. He hunts us but he looks for opportunities. He doesn’t just pounce on us at will. He is pretty slick about what he does.
I believe there are two important factors to how the devil hunts us. First, he looks for opportunities that make us the most vulnerable. Some of our most vulnerable times are when we are facing difficulties or tragedies in life. It could be sickness, the loss of a loved one, the end of a marriage, the backsliding of a child and the list could go on.
There are certain moments in our life when we are just more vulnerable to his attacks. That is an opportune time for the devil.
Another hunting opportunity that I believe the devil looks for pertains to our personality. He knows enough about some of our weaknesses that he will use any opportunity to take advantage of that. He doesn’t go after us when we are at our strongest. He takes advantage of those moments when something in our personality causes us to be at our weakest.
Now all of this might sound like we are at his mercy. We are never at the mercy of the devil, no matter how he pursues us. The good news is that we have someone alongside of us that will fight back. We have the power of the Holy Spirit, the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
The devil may have his tactics for hunting us. But remember that God’s Word says that greater is He who is in us than him who is in the world (I John 4:4).
