. . . greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
I John 4:4 (NAS)
Do you know what a Mountain Boomer is? Well, it’s a species of lizard. I don’t know much about lizards except that if you try to catch one and break its tail off it will grow a new one. (That’s what the boys at school always told me. Is that right?) A Mountain Boomer looks like a miniature dinosaur and I would not want to hold one, girly person that I am! But this is a story that delighted my boys at the time and they would still laugh about it IF I called it to their remembrance.
I’ve always loved to garden. Pres sent this quote to me: “He who makes a garden works hand in hand with God.” (Douglas Malloch.) I love that. Pres has the intelligence needed, the knowledge of what to plant, where to plant, how to care for plants, etc. I just have the joy of digging in the dirt, pulling weeds, watching those tiny plants grow, and loving the results, beautiful or not. I wouldn’t get an award from Home and Garden, but that’s all right. I’m not trying for that. I’ve had nice gardens in several of our many settling places.
This story takes place behind our garage on Clegern Avenue. I would get up early to be alone in my gardening. You see, little boys also love to garden, but with very little discernment between weeds and the real thing. So it was on this day I made an early pilgrimage to the garden. I’d done some weeding and decided to clean up the pile of bricks “over in the corner.”It was fine until I disturbed a Mountain Boomer’s home and he reared his head and challenged me severely with a “no trespassing” look. Now this little lizard was no bigger than my hand, but he was fast and aggressive. I tried to frighten the monster and send him back to his habitat with my hoe, “Get away! Go home! Get away!” No success. This infuriated him. He stood up on his hind legs, lifted his arms, showed his teeth and ran at me…with the desired result:I ran from him! He chased me out of the garden, up the walk to the house and stopped only when I closed the screen door securely behind me, scared silly! Then, he crawled up on a rock and stood there laughing at me! I KNOW that vicious, little creature was laughing at me. See why the boys loved that gardening episode? You’re laughing too? Oh well….
How in the world does that fit into a thought from the Lord for today, Anabel? Well, I’m me, Satan is the lizard, and I run from him, try to frighten him with my “hoe,” and am scared of him. Even though the Lord says that Satan is a defeated foe, that He has conquered him for me, that He has no power over me and that He who is in me is far greater than he who is in the world. I am still frightened.
I’m confident Satan gets a good belly laugh out of our fear of him, that he loves seeing us run for cover when all we need to do is shout, “Hey Buster! We’re on God’s team, and you’d better get back to hell where you belong as quick as you can!”
That may be just a little overly dramatic, but when Satan is plaguing us with unwanted “what ifs” from the darkness where he dwells, and gets our heart pounding and our eyes staring into the night, we need to refuse the thoughts and stay our minds on the Lord (Isaiah 26:3, Phil. 4.) Is that easy to do? NO! But have some of your favorite scriptures ready to heave at him and fight the good fight. I use Psalm 19:1-6, I Chronicles 29:11-13, and Philippians 4:6-8. Why those especially? Because they are so familiar I don’t have to think about what to say! Nice.
So, go your way, little Mountain Boomer. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course that was set for me. And I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).
Oh, to be able to say that at the end of every day!
I love talking with you.
Anabel