I remember sitting in Sunday School as a child, looking at a flannel graph, and seeing a felt image of a lion.  “Satan is a roaring lion…” Mrs. Dixon said. “He’s on the prowl and looking for someone to devour.”  First, this is a dark message for children without telling them the rest of the story ~ Jesus is more powerful than the enemy!  

Only as I’ve grown older have I looked carefully at the scripture she quoted.  “Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  I Peter 5:8-9   She left out an important word. Satan is not the roaring lion.  He prowls ‘like’ a roaring lion.    He sets out to mimic God.  Let’s be clear and comforted ~ The real lion is our Aslan, the Lion of Judah.  

There’s an interesting disclosure about lions in Amos 3:4.  Does a lion ever roar in a thicket without first finding a victim? Does a young lion growl in its den without first catching its prey?  A lion roars to terrify its victim.  He knows his prey will freeze before being easily captured.  Then the lion growls as he begins to devour his catch in order to attract other lions to come and enjoy the feast with him.  Doesn’t our enemy deal this treacherously?  He roars.  We freeze, or so he hopes. 

But Satan is not the lion.  We are told he roars ‘like’ a lion. Remember, he’s the wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s a lion impostor.  This fake lion has already been defeated, and we are the children of Aslan, fighting our fear with this truth.  

“God is a shield to all who trust in him.”  Psalm 18:30