Growling Beasts by Randy Rowley 5/6/25 ©
ByOn a Friday afternoon in late March, David Chalmers, Warren Hoke, and I arrived at the El Portillo Ranch near Charlotte for an FCS semi-guided hog hunt. There we met David Smith, the Texas Wild owner. After paying him he showed us the ranch.
Later that afternoon, I took David and Warren to their chosen stands. I then headed towards mine – an elevated box blind, around 10 feet high. It was around 100 yards from a barrel feeder and had sliding plexiglass windows and a carpeted floor. The plexiglass was relatively clear, so I could see through it fine.
As night began to fall, it started to get cold, so I shut the blind’s windows. It was a good thing that I did – about two hours after dark an owl slammed into the front window! I’m not sure who was more startled – him or me. If I hadn’t shut the windows he would have flown right into my face! A closer inspection of the blind revealed that I was sitting in his home. There was a lot of fur under my chair on top of the carpet and at least one mouse skeleton. That was my only excitement that night – no hogs came to the feeder. I left the windows open when I exited the blind, so the owl could reclaim his home.
The next night, I decided to let the owl have his blind and I hunted from an around 8 foot tall tripod around 20 yards from the same feeder that I had hunted over the night before. Instead of my rifle, I held my shotgun stuffed with 00 buckshot with a Surefire G2 flashlight with a red lens mounted to it. I could see under the feeder much better than I did the night before when it was attached to my rifle and I was 100 yards away from the feeder.
Around three hours into the hunt I heard heavy footsteps behind me and then a very low and loud growl. Although I couldn’t see it, it could only be one thing – a big boar. The growls grew louder and sounded like a cross between a growl and a scream! The hair-curling growl/scream lasted for around two minutes! I was very glad that I wasn’t hunting from a pop-up blind! The hog sounded very perturbed – how dare that a stinky man was so close to his corn dinner!
I’d never heard a hog growl like that before and only a couple times since. After it left, I decided that the blind was a better choice after all. I reclaimed it after grabbing my rifle and putting up my shotgun. But that was the only excitement that night.
Of our two weekend hunts at the El Portillo Ranch, that weekend was the least productive. David killed a hog that weighed around 100 lbs. and I killed two rattlesnakes.
1 Peter 5:8-10 NLT says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.”
Satan wields great power. He ceaselessly works all over the earth – in our governments, communities (including our churches and other bodies of believers), neighborhoods, homes, and individual lives. He doesn’t take lunch breaks or vacations and has nothing better to do than to attack us and to try to make us stumble. He doesn’t waste his time trying to make unbelievers stumble, as they’re already his – he targets Christians. We mustn’t forget what he’s done to us and others and his methods and strategies.
Satan’s the one who:
- Rebelled against God and enlisted one-third of the angels to join him (see Isaiah 14:12-17, Ezekiel 28:11-19, and Revelation 12:4).
- Tried to use Herod to kill Jesus after his birth, by ordering the deaths of all Israelite boys two years old and younger (see Matthew 2:1-16).
- Tried to get Jesus to bow down and worship him after Jesus’ 40 day fast in the wilderness (see Matthew 4:1-11).
- Filled Ananias and Sapphira with greed, causing them to lie to the Holy Spirit after selling their land and giving some of the proceeds to the church in Jerusalem, but claiming to have given it all (see Acts 5:1-11).
- Impersonates an angel of light (see 2 Corinthians 11:14).
- Repeatedly blocked Paul from returning to Thessalonica (see 1 Thessalonians 2:18).
- Will wage war against God’s children (see Revelation 12:17).
The list of Biblical heroes and figures who Satan has influenced to stumble is long, including Adam and Eve, Cain, Abram, Moses, David, and Peter, just to name a few.
Satan has won many battles today. Examples include the only profession according to some surveys less trusted than the clergy is politicians, there’ve been widely published sexual abuses by Christian ministers (reflecting poorly on us), and there’s no difference between the divorce rates of Christian couples and non-Christian couples.
Satan can’t remove our salvation, but he’ll do everything he can to make us fruitless (see Matthew 13:22) and diminish our peace, joy, and the assurance of our salvation. He’ll do whatever he can to confuse us, see us stuck in sin, and make us doubt God’s word (as he did with Eve).
Satan knows that confused and doubting Christians who are struggling with sin won’t want to make disciples, serve God in any other capacity, or associate with people who have the peace, joy, abundant life, and victory they lack.
The book of 2 Samuel recounts David’s journey to becoming Israel’s king. He had spent the last 15 years hiding in the wilderness, but was finally about to be anointing king. And no one knew more about what that would mean than his enemy – the Philistines, who David had embarrassed and defeated three times before (see 1 Samuel 17, 1 Samuel 18:13 – 27, and 1 Samuel 19:8). 2 Samuel 5:17 NLT says, “When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of Israel, they mobilized all their forces to capture him. But David was told they were coming, so he went into the stronghold.”
Satan and his demons know the anointed people of God and never have a doubt about what they’re capable of. They know what it will cost them if God’s people succeed. God was about to work through David as an anointed king, so the Philistines gathered in full force to find and destroy him. Likewise, when Christians receive a mission from God, Satan seeks to destroy us. The evidence that we are in the center of God’s will is Satan’s roar or growl. We must not allow it to run us off and stop doing God’s will. When we are in the center of God’s will, Satan’s growling is only a bluff!
David was about to be anointed king, and his enemy was seeking to destroy him. So, what did David do when Satan growled? He “went into the stronghold” – a building or structure that is safe from attack (e.g., a fortress). The Philistines were undoubtedly noisy, just as Goliath was noisy when he taunted the Israeli army. David endured the sound made by thousands of growling Philistines because he was in a safe and restful place where he could talk to God.
When we’re in the center of God’s will and performing great works for him, we too can ensure the sound made by a growling Satan and his demons because God fights them for us. We can follow the example of Moses, who said in Exodus 14:13b when the Hebrews accused him of wanting to kill them as the Egyptian army approached them at the banks of the Red Sea, “‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.’”
David knew that God’s kingdom is eternal. He wrote in Psalm 145:13 (NLT), “For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.” David knew that even if the Philistines killed him the “everlasting kingdom” would continue to work through those who won’t be scared off by Satan’s growls.
David asked God in 2 Samuel 5:19, “‘Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?” The LORD answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.’” In the midst of thousands of growling Philistines, David sought God’s will. He then defeated the Philistines at Baal Perazim.
Just as I could’ve been in danger from that growling hog if I’d been on the ground, we mustn’t forget that Satan is always looking for ways to destroy our growth in the Lord and our witness. Don’t pay attention to Satan’s growl. Instead, focus on God’s mission for you.
David with his hog and Randy’s rattlesnakes