Mosquitoes buzzed constantly past their noses and bothered the two men who were hiding sixty yards away from the big chunk of hippo meat. Their eyes peered into the inky blackness of the hot African night, while fear clawed at them as they nervously waited. The two men strained their ears for sounds of the killer they couldn’t see.
Wayne had promised to help the villagers when he first heard their desperate pleas. Every night they had been barricading themselves inside their huts and traveling about in small groups during the day. The deadly lion stalking them was longer than the giant Goliath was tall—nearly 10½ ft. The villagers were just as afraid of this killer lion as the people were afraid of Goliath in Bible times.
Days before, the lion had come back to claim the laundry bag from the now-empty house with the bloodstained doorway . . . the result of his first visit. In the burning African sun, the fearsome animal had stood over the laundry bag in the center of the huts and roared his victory for all the frightened villagers to hear. He had already claimed six victims, and everyone wondered if they were to be the seventh.
Satan, in his fearsome power and deep hatred for God, seems a lot like that huge killer lion. He has claimed many victims and is prowling to claim more. Maybe you have read the verse, “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, [walks] about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:88Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8)). Sometimes he tries to use fear to make God’s children turn away from following God.
Throughout the night Wayne sat with his friend Charl, straining to pick up sounds of a lion tearing apart hippo meat. The next morning, tired, covered with mosquito bites, dazed and feverish, Wayne was alarmed to find the tracks of the great lion all around their hideout and the tree where the hippo meat hung. The crafty lion had managed to circle them and pad quietly into the acacia bush without being discovered. Twenty more nights passed with barricaded doors on every hut and fear in every heart. And each night the two men hid themselves within gunshot range of the hippo meat.
On the twenty-first night, just as the shadows lengthened and the sun was ready to slip over the horizon, the lion came stealthily toward the bait. Wayne and Charl had time to take only one shot apiece before the lion disappeared into the bush. They both waited tensely for the outcome. Many hunters have come to a tragic end when a noiseless, wounded lion has suddenly leaped out of the dark jungle cover. Then finally in the distance they heard a dying groan, and Charl knew instantly that the lion would never again terrorize the Mufwe region.
It cost Wayne and Charl three weeks of tension, fear, tiredness and fever to bring an end to the reign of terror for many helpless people. It cost the Lord Jesus Christ far more than that to bring victory over the power of Satan, sin and death. Jesus went to the cross of Calvary to suffer for the sin of helpless sinners. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)). His victory isn’t just for a few people. The Bible so clearly says, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)).
As word quickly reached the village that the fearsome lion was dead, the villagers poured excitedly from their huts. They couldn’t contain their relief and thanksgiving! One woman grabbed Wayne by the hand and looking into his eyes simply said, “Zikomo kwambili!” - “Thank you very, very much!”
How long has it been since each of us looked by faith into the face of our precious Deliverer and shared that heartfelt message found in the words, “Zikomo kwambili”?
ML-07/16/2006