This past week, our family was at the beach, and for some reason, we had the entire beach to ourselves. Maybe it was because a cold front moved to Destin, Florida, and the sand was as cold as ice. It didn’t stop the Pruitts from enjoying our family and the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. The frigid temperatures also didn’t stop the gazillion seagulls from visiting our family. Whitney is NOT a fan of birds. She draped a towel over her head to hopefully deter them. It didn’t work. Jackson attempted to draw them far away from our family by holding a cheez-it above his head and running like a wild man far, far away. It worked…for a while, other than the fact that they nearly took his head off in the process. The only problem was that the second Jackson began his journey back to his family, they followed. I chose that moment to gobble down my sandwich and chips. I hid under a towel, because the seagulls strategically left a few scavengers to devour any crumbs that we dropped. I felt their presence behind me but wasn’t that concerned until I was TRYING to eat a bbq chip. As I lifted the chip to my mouth, a seagull swooped down and snatched it from my grip, nearly taking three of my fingers off in the process. The Seagulls were winning. Their relentless pursuit of what they wanted was proving to be very successful. They also use pigeons as their decoy. Pigeons are pretty birds and quite brave. Pigeons hunt for food as close to your toes as they can get. They have some sign or code for each other and the second they stare back at the seagulls, they all attack at one time, while one hangs out at a safe distance bellowing this horrific screech. That was scary.
This is what I learned of their relentless attack. IF you just sit there, they will win their pursuit. IF you just sit there, they will take everything of importance to them and leave you with nothing. IF you give up and leave, they stare you down throughout your walk of shame and their squawking could also be interpreted as “laughing” at you for giving up so easily.
This is what I learned about how to survive their relentless attack. IF you get up and move intentionally towards them, they scatter. IF you swirl in circles while simultaneously hollering, “LEAVE US ALONE,” they think you are crazy and they fly away, but if you sit back down quickly…they come back quickly. IF you and your family communicate to each other what you will do and actually follow through, the birds leave.
Make no mistake. Satan is not much different than those relentless seagulls. If we sit back and do nothing, the end result is not pretty at all.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1Pe 5:8-9 NIV)