Depending on where your contact is located within a country, there are sometimes really cool things to do on your free day. Last month, being in a little village in Northern Uga
nda meant that our big free day activity was driving an hour down bumpy dirt roads to a cafe that’s main draw was that it had pizza and western toilets. This month, in Tanzania, it means being right next to beautiful Lake Victoria and not far from a lot of other sights that Tanzania has to offer. Just a few days ago, 6 of us spent our free day going on a safari in the Serengeti National Park. The Masai people named it the Serengeti because the word means, “land that has no end” and it was quickly evident to us how it earned that name. African plains stretched for miles in all directions, with wildebeests, gazelle, and antelope all around. We drove for hours to get to our campsite in the center of the park, and the expanse all around us was incredible.
all day. There were buffalo hoof-prints on the way to the bathroom, and elephant dung a few yards from where our tents were set up. They told us that as long as we stayed in our tents, we were safe. The animals would not try to get into the tents. Some people heard noises all night long, while others slept peacefully. When we got up the next morning, we were told that hyenas had been roaming through our camp while most of us were asleep, and that they were only scared away by a lion that came through. While I was safe in my tent that night, I had no idea that a hungry lion was roaming around right outside my shelter. All of us 20-somethings thought that was the coolest thing ever, and made for a great story, which of course, it is. As I thought about it later though, a deeper significance came to mind. As I have been reading through Psalms, I’ve been noticing how many references there are to the Lord being our refuge, our strength, and our shelter. I even came across a verse or two that talked about God being our “tent” that offers safety. (Psalm 27:5) Likewise, my mind went to 1 Peter 5:8 which talks about the devil who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
We were warned us that we needed to stay in our tents throughout the night to make sure we stayed safe. I believe that is in direct correlation with how we should live our lives spiritually. God offers us His protection, peace, and rest. He offers 
freely for us to stay in His tent. He knows that the devil is prowling around throughout the night, in our darkest times of life, just waiting for people who are not resting in the tent of the Lord. As soon as we step out, thinking that the tent isn’t safe enough or strong enough – that we somehow might be safer out on our own in the wild – we are vulnerable to attacks. When we doubt the Lord’s goodness, when we anxiously try to figure out our own way, we just put ourselves in unsafe places that are never good for us. Right before talking about the devil being like a prowling lion, 1 Peter says in verse 7, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” What a blessing to know we can rely on Him and know that He cares for us! He knows there are lions roaming around, butHe doesn’t want us to be scared, because He provides safety for us as we are snuggled within His tent.
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. (8) Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.
