幾年前的一個早晨，我正準備搭火車去上班，在前往車站時，一位女士牽著一隻看來很兇猛的狗朝我走來。我從小家裡就有養寵物狗，所以通常不會怕毛小孩，但這隻狗看似虎視眈眈。牠一靠近我，就對我大聲吠叫。我本想一笑置之，但牠卻突然向我撲來，嚇得我尖叫。所幸，那隻狗無法傷害我，因為牠的主人緊緊抓住了狗鍊，牠根本碰不到我。

那次可怕的遭遇讓我想到，對我們這些基督徒而言，撒但也像是被狗鍊拴住一樣，雖然受到約束，但卻虎視眈眈，如果我們給牠機會，牠就會發動攻擊。在彼得前書，使徒彼得告誡我們：「你們的仇敵魔鬼如同吼叫的獅子，遍地遊行，尋找可吞吃的人」（5章8節）。牠對我們咆哮、吼叫並撲向我們，試圖嚇唬和威脅我們，要讓我們因恐懼而不知所措，但我們可以「用堅固的信心抵擋牠」（9節）。

當你覺得仇敵正在嘲弄或引誘你時，請謹記：牠根本不是耶穌的對手。我們可以向耶穌呼求，祂會幫助我們。祂「必要親自成全你們，堅固你們，賜力量給你們」（10節）。

當我們遭受屬靈的攻擊，我們可以選擇以信心抵擋而不是恐懼，因為耶穌一直在我們身邊。

On my walk to catch the train to work a few years ago, I saw a woman with a ferocious-looking dog heading toward me. I grew up around pet dogs, so I’m usually not afraid of furry friends, but this one looked menacing. As the dog got closer, he barked at me. I tried to laugh it off. But then he lunged at me, so I screamed. Thankfully the dog couldn’t harm me because he couldn’t reach me. His owner held on tightly to his leash.

That scary encounter reminded me that as believers in Jesus, Satan is also “on a leash” but waiting to attack if we give him the opportunity. In 1 Peter, the apostle Peter warns us, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (5:8). He growls and snarls and lunges at us to try to scare and intimidate us and to paralyze us with fear, but we can stand firm in our faith and “resist him” (v. 9).

When you feel the enemy taunting or tempting you, remember this: He’s no match for Jesus. We can cry out to Him and He’ll help us. He “will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (v. 10).

When we’re under spiritual attack, we can choose faith over fear because Jesus is always with us.