Most if not all of us are familiar with the old folk tale " Little Red Riding Hood". Today I was reminded of this story and how the enemy desires to devour us. Our minds can be renewed by the Word of God, our hope can be strengthened and restored by the power of the Holy Spirit and our soul can be kept safe by the blood of Jesus.
Many different adaptations of this tale have been revised over the years , but I will focus on the one that is most familiar to my memory.We read of a young girl walking in the woods alone... PAUSE ... I have an issue with that because as a child I was taught not to go anywhere unaccompanied and even in school they had what we called the buddy system. Why does one venture to walk through the woods ?, was it a shortcut?, were there no other open roads? or was she just that naive to think that she could take on the world aka the woods all by herself ?
Okay back to the story...She is in route to her grandmothers house whom by assumption I will say she had frequented before to give her some food. Immediately you read of how the wolf who no doubt had seen her travel before, knew the way she would take and was just looking for the opportune time to approach her. I believe that he would hide himself in the midst of bushes, shrubs and or trees to camouflage his presence. In his heart and mind he had already decided her fate, the wolf wanted to eat her alive ... not scare, kidnap or torture her... but DEVOUR her entire being.
He then reveals himself and begins to have a conversation with her, I do not know about you... but as I recall the last time a female had a conversation with an animal in a woodsy area it spawned the inception of the fall of man. Eve was chopping it up with the serpent while he was too looking for a way to consume her. Why in the world did Little Red Riding Hood think that it was okay to converse with the enemy anyway ?. This is just my two cents but I do not believe this was the first conversation that took place , to divulge information of that magnitude with someone would cause me to believe that you were comfortable enough to express your comings and goings to the point of feeling some false sense of thinking that the other party was asking questions for your benefit instead of your demise.
Now the wolf begins to give her counsel if you will as to what she should take to her grandmothers house... really Satan , now you know what`s best for me ?. Her initial plan was to take food, now she is picking flowers for her very own funeral. She agrees and is in concert with his suggestion. Sleeping with the enemy only comes after we have had discussion, contemplation and were persuaded in some way , most likely by our own hidden desires. He cannot tempt you with something that your heart isn`t already longing for.
The wolf who is just as crafty as the Serpent, beats her to her destination, did he know the address because she told him or again did he just follow her pattern of doing things the same old way , but expecting different results ? . Either way, he has found an open door and has now entered the house and grandma is nowhere to be found, could he have devoured her family member and would not stop until he overtook the young girl also ?. She arrives at the home only to notice that there is a little something suspect about her grandma. For the wolf has now disguised himself as FAMILY. Just as Satan disguises himself as the angel of light, only to be revealed as a counterfeit.Coming with the sole purpose to STEAL, KILL and DESTROY.Steal the peace you once found in wholeheartedly trusting in the power, protection and provision of God, to kill every dream, ambition and forward thinking mission that will bring life to others and to destroy your testimony, by convincing you that what he suggests would do you far better than what you already knew to be in your best interest.
Here we see her knowing in her gut that something, something, something, something ...just ain`t right !. But her next move tells much about the young girl. Instead of her realizing that things were not as they appeared , she stayed in the presence of the wolf and begin to converse with him yet again. The Bible says in Proverbs 6:27/28?.... Can a man scoop fire in his lap without his clothes being burned ?... or can a man walk on hot coals and not expect his feet to be scorched ?. What did she think was going to happen ??? .... the longer we entertain sin , we deceive ourselves into thinking that It does not have the power to overtake us.
She says " what a deep voice you have" , which leads me to believe that in the beginning he did not talk to her in the same tone, why else would she be startled ?. His response was " better to greet you with", I do not know about you , but as soon as he said that... I would have exited stage left, ran faster than OJ in an airport and leaped over the bushes in the woods like Lolo Jones over those hurdles at the
Olympics. Dialogue continues... " what big eyes you have " and he replies "better to see you with "... again I would have played dumb and been like , my bad you must have me mistaken for someone else, I will just let myself out. She goes on to say " what big hands you have", now unless she worked on CSI or was a forensic specialist by trade, she should have noticed by now her examination of him , did not coincide with what she knew about her grandmother. He responds " better to hug you with ". Really you wanna embrace me now ???. Ain`t nobody got time fo dat !.Some translations state that she then says "what big teeth you have and he faithfully replies... "better to eat you with ". His plot , plan and execution has now been made known, Now the very words that proceeded out of her mouth would cause her to be swallowed up by his mouth.
His plan was strategic from the beginning, he watched , he lurked, and learned her pattern . He coupled that information with seeing how much info concerning herself and those close to her would be released, presented himself as one who would make her journey that much more pleasant , beat her to her destination and all with the intent to use her own confession against her. The enemy is only aware of our next step when open our mouths... It`s like the container of mints , that come with two openings, one side says... to share while the other says... not to share. May we too be conscious of giving our pearls to pigs.
Though victorious in all things, we too today are susceptible to the wolf in the woods, as well as the one in sheep`s clothing. If we are not careful we ourselves can become the wolf preying on others vulnerability and using the very information that they share against them. We can and have never been able to can handle sin, that is why the very thing that you thought you just could not live without will wind up being the selfsame thing that is killing you. The craftiness of Satan can only be thwarted with the wisdom of God. Christ blood paid for and proved all for us. The person who is fully persuaded that there times and seasons are in God`s hands, do not have to try and arm wrestle with the adversary, we have shown full well that it is because of our powerlessness , that God had to send his son to sacrifice his life to redeem ours.
May we not insult the One who willingly laid down his life for mankind , by leaning on our own understanding and walking on the edge of sins cliffs. Yes we all will be tempted, but when we are , may we not blame it on God because He cannot be tempted by evil and He always provides a way of escape.
It is solely up to us if we will run with perseverance the race that is set before us or if we will listen the the "Wolf in the Woods"
Hidden In Him
Pretina J. Lowery
March,13, 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment