Scott Stephens shark attack

Scott Stephens was having a good day surfing this past Tuesday off the coast
of
Eureka, California. Other surfers were nearby as Scott rode out to catch
another wave, lying on his surf board as he paddled out into the ocean.
What
happened next is every surfer's nightmare.

A shark attacked Scott, grabbed him by his midsection, and pulled him
underwater. What Scott did next can only be described as "survival
instinct":
he began punching the shark on its head until it released him.

Scott was able to get back on his badly-mangled surf board and paddle back
to
shore. There, thanks to strangers who rushed to his aid, he was taken to
medical personnel. Surgery found no vital organs damaged, and a full
recovery
is expected.

What would you or I do in such a situation? Sometimes people give in to
situations of danger, seeing no point in fighting back. Others, however, do
what Scott Stephens did; they start punching.

Not many of us will ever be attacked by a shark. But other ordeals might
grab
us by the gut and threaten to destroy us in overwhelming conditions.
Gabrielle
Giffords, the former member of Congress from Arizona, suffered a gunshot
wound
to her head in an assassination attempt in January of 2011. What was the
likelihood of her recovering from this lethal attack? Yet because Giffords
began "punching away", we have witnessed her remarkable comeback from near-
death.

All of us face the certain prospect of being attacked by Satan. Peter
revealed
this dreaded news in his first letter: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour"
(1 Peter 5:8). A lion is an enemy to be feared. And it's not a question of
"if" he will attack me, but "when".

Martin Luther had an idea of how fearsome Satan is. In his famous hymn he
wrote: "For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and
pow'r
are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal." ("A
Mighty
Fortress") If that be true, what hope do any of us have when we are
assaulted
by the devil?

We have great hope - even confidence! - if we follow the advice of the
apostle
Paul: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against
the
wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11). Paul then describes various pieces of
that spiritual armor - truth, righteousness, faith, etc. Those who so equip
themselves have more than a fighting chance; they know they will conquer
Satan!

Most of the armor Paul describes is defensive in nature: the helmet, the
shield,
the breastplate. But one item is offensive: "... and the sword of the
Spirit,
which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). Jesus demonstrated the
effectiveness of this "sword" in His own encounter with Satan (Matthew
4:1-11).
After skillfully fighting back with God's word, the devil was forced to
retreat.

Struggling with Satan is a subtle process, not usually as harrowing as being
found in the jaws of a shark. But the stakes are far greater! In such
times we
must start punching with all our might. With God's help we'll break free
from
this ancient foe. He will even flee from us (see James 4:7).

Timothy D. Hall