Watching Our Backside

Ravens are mentioned in the Bible several times. It was the first bird Noah released , they fed Elijah morning and evening, and God says he provides food for their young. I have watched them with interest over the years and have seen them use their intellect at times to accomplish their mission.

Once while tractor mowing a field, a raven discovered I was flushing out mice so it took advantage of the opportunity and caught several fleeing mice right beside the mower. We observed one once while elk hunting that found something to it's liking under a tree limb. After trying to bend over and peck on the underside for a while; it decided to just hang on with it's feet and swing upside down to get it's meal. One fall in Alaska a client and I were sitting on a mountain side watching the valley for caribou when two ravens landed on the remains of a recent caribou kill about one hundred yards from us. They were eating away when a grizzly bear rushed at them and claimed their meal. The ravens flew uphill about fifty yards to discuss the situation. Shortly they both flew back to the bear who was busy with it's meal. One raven hovered just above the bear taunting it until the bear chased it up the hill about one hundred yards. The other raven took up dining on the caribou. The bear realized it's meal was being pecked away by the other raven so it charged down to it with amazing speed . That raven then harassed the bear until it chased it up the hill and the other raven took it's turn feasting. The ravens repeated this scene for nearly an hour until they had enough to eat and left the enraged bear to finish it's meal. We backed off a ways as I was sure the bear would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

Recently while elk hunting I saw a raven come gliding over a ridge in the afternoon heat , allowing the thermals to keep it going. It seemed to be enjoying the day and was oblivious to a fast moving object approaching from the rear. A falcon had set it's sights on the raven and was closing in a a remarkable speed. The raven didn't realize it was lunch until the falcon was just inches away from the raven's tail. The raven went into several dives to try and shake it off but the swift predator matched every move the raven made. They soon disappeared over another ridge so I don't know who won that contest. It didn't look good for the raven. It should have been watching behind.

People are like the raven as we go through life thinking all is well , yet we don't see trouble coming. Satan likes to catch Christians off guard. What can we do? Jesus told his disciples to pray and watch. What did they do? They feel asleep. The disciples later realized the power of prayer and how it protected them from Satan's arrows.

Prayer protects us and keeps the communication lines open to God. Praying with other believers is better yet. Remember, Satan has no power when God is involved.