A number of years ago I heard a story about a Mom who took her small children to the St. Louis Zoo with a friend. As these two women strolled around the Zoo with their children, it was a great day. Their great day was about to get complicated when a blanket got caught in the wheels of a stroller they had been pushing. It only took a minute to untangle the blanket. When the Mothers looked up, two of their boys had walked through a toddler size gap in the fence. To their horror, the boys, age 3 and 5, were standing on a rock ledge that was about 20 feet above the lion exhibit. Not knowing the danger they were in, the boys waved to their Mothers. One of the boys excitedly said: “Look Mom, there are lions down there.”

One of the Mothers moved quickly to the fence opening, calmly kneeled, reached out her arms and said: “Hey sweethearts, come give me a hug.” As the Mom reached out, the boys scampered into the arms of safety. Little did these boys know the danger they were in. While this story pulls at the heartstrings in each of us, let me turn the story around for a moment. There are two truths that we rarely consider. Truth #1 is that we, too, live in a dangerous world. The danger I refer to goes far deeper than the hateful actions of lunatic killers we hear about in the news. We live in a world where Satan prowls; looking for lives to ruin and souls to devour. Truth #2 is that God calls each of us to a place of safety and love.

The sad truth is that most people scoff at the danger they are in. Most people are too sophisticated to believe that we have an unseen spiritual enemy in Satan. The truth is that Satan does not care whether people believe in him or not. Satan never stops in this war with God. While Satan is a defeated enemy, he will drag as many to Hell with him as he can.

Another sad truth is that most people don’t know that God is calling them to safety. Our hearts warm at the imagery of a Mother saving her little boys from the danger of the Lions. We will shed a tear of joy as we think of the Mother hugging these sweet children. The question I ask is: “Can you imagine God opening his arms wide to hug you and give you love?” No one will ever prove that there is a safer place than being in the arms of God’s love. As I have already said, there are those who will dispute that we are in danger from our greatest enemy, Satan. Another sad truth to consider is that some people will never accept the idea that God could or would love them.

Some people might imagine God loving and welcoming sweet children. Others might accept that God could love people who have moderately broken and ruined their lives, but God could never love them! They cannot fathom that God would open his arms wide and call them into his arms of love. In a world that has trouble believing in things it cannot easily see, the truths I have shared in this article are challenging. Let me ask you to ponder these two truths. As we ask “why do such evil things happen in our world”, understand that there is a great deceiver who has led people down dark, evil paths. Do not close your eyes to the sinister things that are happening in our world today.

If this first truth (that we are all in danger) was all that I asked you ponder, it might make for discouraging thoughts and conclusions. I challenge you to also reflect on the fact that Satan does not have the final word. While evil seems to run unchallenged, it is not in charge. Satan is a defeated enemy. Jesus came to conquer Satan and he has destroyed Satan’s schemes. Jesus also came to show us the love of God. Jesus has come to let us know that God’s arms are open wide to everyone who will run to him. There is no one who is too messed up, too broken or too far gone that God is not calling to return to his loving embrace. What about you? What do you see? Will you accept the idea that God loves you more than you can imagine. God’s love is not based on how good you are, it is based on how good he is! Keep looking up!