“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

A few years ago, my husband and I went to an ocean park in New Hampshire to play on the beach. Sitting there we overheard the father behind us talking to his crying three-year-old boy.

While the boy was playing in the water, a seagull had grabbed his hot dog and flown off with it. It was inconceivable to the boy that this could happen with his parents sitting right there!

We had seen the signs in the vendor window, “We will not replace food stolen by seagulls” and “Do not feed the seagulls” and thought they were a joke. We could not imagine something like this happening with all the people sitting all around on the beach.

We thought the seagulls would have been afraid of all the people – but they were not. These birds are bold and brazen scavengers.  They landed right in the midst of people and strutted around, looking for a handout.

I made the mistake of tossing a french fry to ONE seagull – and immediately a swarm of birds converged on me, looking for more.  They were not friendly and it was scary.  Obedience is better than being a sacrifice!  The signs were posted there for a reason.

Later on during prayer God said to me, “My people and the devil are like the seagull and little boy.  Even though people surrounded the food, a seagull will walk right up and steal it if someone isn’t paying enough attention to shoo the bird away.  With my people, there are ‘signs’ everywhere in the Bible, but because people do not know what the signs say, don’t obey them, or are not vigilant, the enemy swoops down and steals from, kills and destroys them, their dreams, their hopes, their health, their finances, everything.”

If we don’t read our Word, we won’t know what our blessings and promises are, or our warning signs.  If we don’t spend time with God, He can’t lead us in the ways we should go (Isaiah 48:17).  If we only go to church for social reasons, we’ll never learn and grow.

It is like the outcry, “Why didn’t God do something about this” when a tragedy strikes.  “Why didn’t God stop it if He loves people so much?”  Do you know that every believer in that tragedy had the right to protection, angels, and safety?

I heard so many miraculous stories after 9-11.  One person who was never late to work decided to take a child out to breakfast before dropping them off at school. This made them late enough they missed the horror. Same with the woman who never overslept but did that morning.

Never underestimate God’s ability to deliver you no matter how profound the attack of the enemy seems.

Jesus gave us ALL power (authority) over ALL the power of the enemy.  His Word says NOTHING shall by any means hurt us (Luke 10:19).  If it is raining and you go outside without an umbrella, do you curse God because you got wet?  I would hope not.

However, we go “outside” into the world without our full armor and a total knowledge of what our rights are. Then, when we are attacked by the enemy and fall down under that attack, we look up, shake our fists at God and say, “Why me? Why did YOU let this happen to me??”

The seagull could not take the food unless it was unprotected.  The devil cannot devour us unless we let him. I heard a preacher say it like this: The devil is NOT a lion. The devil goes around faking it, pretending to be a lion. He knocks on people’s doors “seeking whom he may devour.”  Knock-knock-knock.  “Who is it?”  “It’s me, the devil, may I come in and devour you?”

THE ANSWER IS “NO” AND DON’T OPEN THE DOOR!

Just like the “Do not feed the seagull” sign was an instruction to the people, the Bible gives us instructions.

Don’t be like that little boy who unwittingly lost his hot dog to a marauding seagull through lack of knowledge.  Read and obey the “signs” (Word of God)!  You’ll be glad you did!

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Scriptures Ephesians 6:1-18 – The word “wiles” means “tricks, tactics, methods.”  My favorite meaning is to “lie in wait.” Reminds me of the seagull, just waiting for an opportunity to sneak in and steal the food.

Ephesians 4:27 states to “neither give place to the devil.”  Simply put, it means to give him no opportunity to steal anything from you – give him no chance, leave him no room. Block him with the Word of God.

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