"Now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, 'what has God wrought!' Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain." (Numbers 23:24)Not your usual pin-up Bible verse :)!
God tells us to look to nature to learn lessons about Him (Prov 6:6-8 amongst other places). The People of God, are often like a great, sleeping lioness. Like sleeping Beauty she needs to awaken! And who is the enemy of the people of God? (clue: Not flesh and blood! :) Eph 6:12)
How does the lioness devour her prey? She takes the breath. She squeezes the jugular until the breath has gone. Our enemy breathes out lies all the time! We need to be ruthless and start calling them out, not agreeing with them!! Lionesses work together to bring about a kill. They do not turn on each other!! They are nature's best hunters! We must work together to hunt out and destroy the breath of the enemy. Lies about our significance, our security and our acceptance, about ourselves and others in our lives.
In a nature documentary, two captive lionesses and their pride-leader lion were released back to nature. They were so used to captivity though they were too fearful to step through the open gate. Their handlers decided to leave them until hunger forced their move, but fear paralysed them. The handlers decided to help them out by killing a goat and leaving it down wind, just outside the open enclosure. Eventually, the alpha lioness caved to her hunger. She motioned to her sister, but the lion stayed put. His fear was still greater than his hunger. So the lionesses went to the goat, but instead of eating it themselves, they dragged it all the way back into the enclosure for the male lion to share. They refused to shame him for where he was, but instead treated him as who he WOULD BECOME. They saw his potential, and in sharing the spoils, with their encouragement the lion was then able to take the step of boldness to become WHO HE WAS ALREADY, the bold, pride leader. We need to know and therefore become who we are already in Christ, and we need to treat and encourage others with the potential we see in them, not always according to where they are right now.A lioness can be so tender and gentle, as she moves and cares for her cubs. But she can also be wild and dangerous when her cubs are threatened. The church, she needs to awaken to hear the cries of the needy, the oppressed! She, too, just like her Lamb/Lion Saviour is called to this paradoxical wild gentleness in bringing Heaven to Earth. There is nothing more dangerous than a lion and a lioness who are awake!!!
(Big mention to Lisa Bevere for amazing teaching material on this topic, I learned so much!)
