God is a Lion, Not a Fox

Description: We serve a God who is victorious in all that He does. He has won every battle that He has been in. He fights for His children even when we don’t see it or feel it and even when the answer doesn’t look like what we thought it would. Stand firm in your faith knowing that our God is a lion, He is not a fox.

Day 1: 

We have all been disappointed at times, we all have troubles. In fact, Jesus himself promised us that in this world, we would have many troubles. But take heart! He has overcome them all. (John 16:33) When I was 23 years old, my dad became sick and ended up dying because his appendix ruptured. It was devastating to me; he was my hero, the best dad in the world. He was never even sick, how could something so small as a useless appendix kill him? Especially when we had been praying to God for him to be healed. We had gathered in the hospital chapel as a family and prayed powerful prayers for healing; we had done everything “right” and yet, he still died. I was angry and lost all trust and faith in God. I still went through the motions of being saved, but on the inside, I was pushing God as far away as I could. I heard someone say that my dad was healed, he just received the “ultimate healing”. My dad was faithful and loved God, so I knew he was in heaven, never again to be sick or sad or disappointed, but I wanted him to be here with us, healed like that, not “ultimately healed”. 

Now in the 23 years since dad’s passing, I have learned to talk to God again, and let me tell you, I have been extremely and wonderfully blessed. I have learned that if you’re mad at God, it’s infinitely better to tell Him just how mad you are instead of running from Him. He already knows you’re mad. He already knows the terrible thoughts that you have about Him. He is a Big God, He isn’t going to be mad at you, He isn’t going to turn His back on you. The more you pour your heart out to Him, the closer you will be to Him. God is more than able to soften the hardest of hearts. I can tell you with all assurance that if you go TO God with your anger, and do not run away from Him, your anger will not be able to stand against His goodness, grace, and mercy. 

Reflection:

Have you had disappointments in your life that you are angry with God about? Have you tried to hide that from Him, or decided to not trust God with your troubles and problems?

As you’re reading this, I challenge you to tell God about your anger and disappointment. Pour it out on Him and allow Him to take it away and replace it with love and trust and surrender to the Most High God. 

Scriptures for Day 1:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! Deuteronomy 30:6

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. Ezekiel 36:26

Day 2: 

In the last year, some members of my family had some serious life-threatening medical issues. Thank God, they are doing ok now. When I got the news that they were having trouble, I began to pray for them. I thanked God that they were doing ok, and that they were getting medical help. I asked for the doctors to have wisdom for treatment, and finally, I asked God to heal them. Specifically, I asked Him to heal them, but don’t HEAL them (see day 1, “ultimate healing”). I was trying to micromanage God as if He didn’t understand what I was asking. How silly. When I prayed that though, God broke in and interrupted me. 

He said, “I am not a trickster or underhanded player. I am GOD, who knows what you need and what you will ask for even before you know there is anything to ask for (see Mathew 6:8 and Isaiah 65:24). I am a LION, not a FOX.”

I don’t believe that it was a coincidence that God said He is not a fox. The reason I feel this way is because this past summer we had dealt with a fox. My kids raise chickens for 4-H and FFA projects, so our chicken house is always well stocked. We get the chicks in January or February, and they raise them for showing at the fair. We were very happy with this particular batch of chickens because they grew really well and were laying eggs sooner than we expected. Then one day my daughter went out to do her chicken chores and found a massacre. There were a lot of dead chickens, a couple hens were partially eaten but most were just dead. She cleaned up the mess and tried to secure the survivors better but a few days later the same thing happened again. We were pretty sure it was a fox, different predators act in different ways and this lined up with fox behavior. So my daughter decided she was going to dispatch the varmint. She took her gun out and waited. I knew she would be successful if the fox showed up but I didn’t expect success so soon. About 5 minutes after she went outside, she came back in saying she had got the fox. She mentioned that it looked mangy and skinny, not as one would expect a fox to look when it’s been enjoying chicken dinners. She went back out to dispose of the body so that all the mice and lice and fleas didn’t jump off and infect our other animals. When she was coming out of the barn with an empty feed sack, she looked over to see a beautiful, picture-perfect fox jumping out of the chicken house with another hen! He got away because she had left her gun in the house. At some point, this healthy fox had convinced the sick fox that he knew where to get some good, fat chickens. I’m sure the tricky fox even promised the sickly one that it could go first to get its chicken dinner. Once the decoy was down, the healthy fox had a safe, clear way into the hen house.

There are a lot of lessons to be taken from this story, but the one I want to focus on today is that a fox cannot be trusted. Even a fox can’t trust a fox. But our God, the Most High God, the King of Heaven’s Armies, is a LION, he is not a fox. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the Lion of Judah. Once we have acknowledged that Jesus is God’s son and that He died to save us, we become children of God. Romans 8 says it nicely, especially in verses 16 and 17. It says that His Spirit joins with our spirit to make us God’s children. So then, if God is a lion and we are His children, that makes us lions too! 

We can rest assured that God is always working on our behalf, and we can trust Him in all things. Even when we have troubles, and sometimes it seems like the troubles never stop coming, we can trust God. Even when the answer comes and it’s not what you were hoping for, we can trust that God has not left us or forgotten us. Our God was before the beginning and He will be after the end. He knows each of your days, He created them and He put you in them so nothing surprises Him or catches Him off guard. He has overcome every obstacle. He has won the victory!

Reflection: 

I would challenge you today to make a conscious effort to trust God. Think about the things in your life that you worry about. When we worry, we aren’t trusting God. I am guilty of worrying. At times in my life, I have not been able to sleep because of worry. Just as I would fall asleep, I would jolt awake with such a feeling of doom and dread that I could not go back to sleep. Most of the time when this happened, I would be worrying about finances. But as time went by I realized that God is my provider! By God’s grace and provision, we have always made it through. We have food, clothing, and a roof over our heads, we are healthy physically and mentally. We are blessed beyond measure because of our great God. 

Scriptures for Day 2:

Read Romans 8, notice verse 1 (there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus), verse 12 (you have no obligation to your sinful nature [once you are saved through faith, by grace]), verses 14-17 (all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God and since we are His children, we are His heirs), verse 18 (our current suffering is nothing compared to the glory He has in store for us), verse 29 and 30 (God knew you, He chose you, He called you, He gave you right standing with himself, and He gave you His glory), and finally verses 31-39 (NOTHING can separate you from God’s love)

Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd;

  I have all that I need.

2 He lets me rest in green meadows;

  he leads me beside peaceful streams.

3   He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

  bringing honor to his name.

4 Even when I walk

  through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid,

  for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

  protect and comfort me.

5 You prepare a feast for me

  in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

  My cup overflows with blessings.

6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me

  all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord

  forever.

Day 3: 

Now that we know God is a lion and not a fox, and that foxes can’t be trusted but God can, we need to hunt down the foxes and shoot them. I realize that many of you in real life would not want to shoot a fox or any other animal, but the foxes I’m talking about need to die. These foxes are lies that invade your mind and make you forget about God’s goodness and His promises toward you. We all have these foxes; they disguise themselves well and sneak in before we know they’re there. These foxes are one reason that Ephesians 6:10-18 is in the bible. Just as a soldier would not go to battle without his armor, we cannot take off our spiritual armor. The Armor of God is our protection and our defense against the lies of the enemy. We put our armor on by reading and studying the word, seeking out the promises of God, memorizing verses and when those foxes come in, shoot the Word of God back at them. The enemy cannot resist when you use God’s word against it. Remember that the Lion of Judah has already won the victory! 

Revelation chapter 5 is, to me, a beautiful picture of heaven. In John’s vision, he saw a scroll in God’s right hand and an angel shouting, “Who is worthy to break the seal on this scroll and open it?” No one could do it until the Lion of Judah stepped forward. He has won the victory, and He is worthy to open the scroll. He looked like a slaughtered lamb, but He had seven horns and seven eyes that represent the Spirit of God that is sent out across the earth. When He took the scroll, all of heaven fell down and worshipped Him. The elders in front of the throne held up harps and golden bowls of incense. The incense is our prayers; they burn before God as a pleasing aroma to Him. They rise up to Him. All of heaven worshipped Him because He rescued people from all over the world and made us a kingdom of priests for our God. And they sang, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” And then every creature in heaven and on earth sang, “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.” Amen and hallelujah!! 

Now back to the foxes. What are some of the lies that sneak around in your head? Be honest with yourself and God. I’ll talk about just a few that I hear a lot. This first one is something I have felt in my own life. 

-My prayers aren’t even heard by God; they don’t go anywhere.

Revelation 5:8 says that the four living beings and the 24 elders that are before the throne of God hold up golden bowls with incense that is our prayers. This is burning and lifting straight to God. 

1 John 5:14 says that we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. 

So, the idea that God does not hear our prayers is a fox; shoot it.

-He can do it; He just won’t do it for me.

Psalm 56:8 says, “You keep track of all my sorrows.

  You have collected all my tears in your bottle.

  You have recorded each one in your book.”

Luke 12:7 says that the very hairs on our heads are numbered.

I think we can all agree that God doesn’t need busy work to keep himself occupied. He doesn’t do things for no reason. If He records each of your tears and keeps them in a bottle and if He has kept track and numbered each hair on our heads, why wouldn’t He do something for you? Shoot that lying fox that tells you He doesn’t care enough to answer your prayers!

-He doesn’t want to be bothered with my “stuff” 

John 15:12-15 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

Romans 5:6-11 6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”

Once we have become children of God, God calls us friends. Jesus died 2000 years ago, and still today people are changing from doomed sinners to children of God to friends of God. When your friend calls you in need, do you not try to do everything you can for them? They’re your friend, you care for them, and you want to help them. You are God’s friend when you become saved, and there is nothing our God cannot do! The answer might not always look the way you expect, but you can trust and be sure that it is the best answer. You cannot “bother” God with your “stuff” so shoot that fox.

-God had given me so much already, how could I ask for more?

This fox goes along with the last one, but I wanted to separate it for emphasis; it’s that exciting…

Matthew 7:7 (Amplified version) 7 “Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.”

Read that again. 

In this verse, we have been given permission to NAG. Your spouse might get irritated when you nag them about something, your kids will get mad if you nag them, and parents get frustrated when their kids are nagging about something; but in this verse, God is telling us to nag Him. He’s not going to get mad about it. In fact, He WANTS us to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking. When you’re asking for the right things, there is no way to ask for too much.

Reflection: 

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:3-5 that our warfare is more of a spiritual battle. It says that we are to destroy speculation and lofty things that rise up against the knowledge of God and to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. In reflecting on the challenge above, what are those thoughts, those foxes running around in our minds? Let’s define them, find Scripture that refutes them and take those thoughts captive. Every time they come to mind, slap them down and remind yourself of those Scriptures – maybe even say them out loud. Let’s remind ourselves and theses foxes of His truth.

Scriptures for Day 3:

Ephesians 6:10-18 10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

This devotional was provided by members of Faith Chapel. For more information or to contact us, visit faithchapelchurch.com.