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More Powerful than Hurricane Irma
More Powerful than Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma made history as the most intense hurricane to strike North America since Katrina and the only tropical cyclone ever recorded to have sustained 185 mph winds for 37 hours. At 80 miles wide, Irma was roughly the size of Texas and twice as wide as the Florida peninsula. Many homes were lost or ruined, at least 56 people died, and over 1.5 million households in Florida lost power. Having experienced Irma firsthand, we Floridians can attest to the ferocity and devastation of this powerful storm.
As horrific as Irma proved to be, we have an enemy that is worse beyond calculation: Satan.
The devil is symbolically described in Revelation 12 as a great red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and a tail that swept a third of the stars of the sky and flung them to the earth.
Jesus called Satan “the ruler of this world” (12:31; 14:30; 16:11), Paul called him “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), and John called him the “the serpent of old … who deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9).
Satan is immeasurably bigger, stronger, and more destructive than any storm could ever be. His victims are not limited to any particular area or period of time. He destroys any and all who are outside of God’s saving grace, from every country and across every generation since the beginning of time. And their death is an eternal one.
Despite these facts, many people feared Irma more than they do Satan. Sheer terror and panic permeated the hearts of many as the hurricane was approaching. Millions of people were more afraid of this physical storm than they are of the leader of the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
My point isn’t that we should be terrified of Satan. Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). My point is that people are paying attention to the wrong enemy. Peter wrote, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).
Are you on the alert against your greatest adversary? Are you fortifying the strongholds of your faith in preparation for the storms of temptation he is sending your way? Are you uniting with your brethren in a joint effort to withstand every wind of false doctrine and every wave of disbelief that comes from him? Are you diligently tracking his every scheme through the knowledge of God’s word, constantly informed of the path of his destruction?
If we take the Enemy seriously, we will eagerly do all of this and more! The eternal destiny of our souls is at stake.
As mighty as the devil is, the Lord is infinitely more-so. He alone has the power to destroy the entire universe and to judge all the souls of the living and the dead. Therefore He alone is the One whom we should fear — not a hurricane, not even Satan himself, but the Master of ocean and earth and skies, Jehovah our God.
