There are times when suffering comes into the picture that is not the result of one's choices or actions. Job's suffering was allowed so that Satan's lie, “He loves you, because you bless him” would be silenced forever. Despite his unjustified suffering, Job persevered in his love for God and eventually was blessed abundantly.

As they were walking by a man who was born blind, the disciples asked Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” Jesus gave them a new perspective as He told them it was neither case, but rather a set-up to glorify the Lord by the blind man's healing. It is helpful to emulate Jesus' perspective here when we feel we are being victimized or see others being hurt by asking from the depths of our hearts, "How can God be glorified in this?" As we run to people's aid, we would do well to ask God to reveal Himself to us and show us His truth residing beyond the appearances.

Again, I do not desire to imply that all suffering is brought upon by one's self. But let's recognize that some suffering is brought upon us by our own poor and Satan-influenced choices, which we then forget we made. Therefore, we may not even be able to tell if our suffering is justified or unjustified. But, no matter which it is, we must adhere to God's rules found in the Rule Book: Do not blame, but pray and forgive and ask for Godly perspective.

There are those in the New Age or intellectual religions who would say that we are responsible for everything that happens to us. And even God's Word says that we reap what we sow. As the Book of Job declares, however, Satan can test us even if we haven't done anything to deserve the test. In any case, ever since Adam and Eve took Satan's advice in the Garden of Eden, in effect, handing the reigns over to him, the world has been Satan's stomping ground and he has been a very active force that needs to be reckoned with.

Besides the fact many of those in the intellectual or New Age religions deny the power in the blood of Jesus, they may also err by not considering the satanic forces here on earth. I have no doubt that he rules the earth. I find it helpful to recognize some of his insidious ways, methods, if you will, of tempting us to do something we might later regret. Consider that choices (whether they be influenced by God or Satan) are constantly being made by us. And whether we are tested justifiably or unjustifiably, we still need to decide how to react. Paul could have cursed the guards profanely as they put him and Silas in jail in Tarsus, but would that have been a good witness to others in jail with them? Would the head jail guard have been likely to have been converted to Christianity that night? Besides our having unjustifiable tests in this world, keep in mind that it IS possible for us to make satanically influenced decisions, then forget we made them. We will reap what we sow in these cases, as well as the ones we remember.

Sometimes it is far easier to flinch at the world's rudeness, in shock, completely forgetting that Satan may have successfully tempted us toward rudeness, first. Once our hearts and minds are renewed, resting in Jesus, Satan induced events that were meant to vex us, instead chisel away at the walls we have built, which separate us from God. When the world is rude to us, we can choose to fight it or we can be driven to our knees and made humble and prayerful. Which plan makes more sense?

Yes, Satan has driven us, like nails, into the ground. He pounds and pounds his point on us. "You are not responsible," he screams. "You are a victim of someone else's actions," he chants. "There are situations I've put you in that you had nothing to do with. It is just the way things are. And this is just how it is. You are nothing. I am everything," Satan and his world smirk. He thinks he has you believing a lie.

Consider the ramifications of being a victim of Satan. It entails complete powerlessness. It means all choices we make could be invalid--or valid, depending on Satan's whim. God has become, in this case, impotent against the fallen angel He created! Could this scenario even be possible? Those who want to strive and "get ahead" in the world, could make it and achieve the pinnacles of success they strive for--or they could just as easily be snuffed out in their prime and spend eternity in an oblong box. Even those that "make it" will eventually spend eternity in the oblong box, according to Satan. He always tempts us to stop just short of eternity and gaze at the physical world and these physical bodies we linger in for just a little while. He tempts us toward short sight, partial blindness, misunderstanding and cross purposes. This is the world's version of reality where no one "makes it" and, eventually, we all succumb to the world's demands that we die. Where is God through all of this? Can you see Him? He is nowhere, if Satan has the same power as our Creator. Praise God, he does not.

When we shift our focus away from this dismal worldly scene, we can see an entirely different picture. God's love for each of us becomes tangible. Our connectedness with Christ Jesus reaches beyond the limitations of Satan and the physical world and even these physical bodies. Suddenly we find ourselves making choices influenced by Jesus. The world's screeching wails and demands fade away as Jesus is recognized as real in our minds and hearts. Yes, we begin to think, it is possible to truly follow the Lord and not be tempted by Satan. It is possible to be in the world but not a victim of it. We can, through Christ Jesus, view all kinds of calamities and tragedies and disasters and be above it all because Jesus, residing in us, has overcome this world.

As our awareness of Jesus increases, we know, more and more that He is dwelling in our hearts and minds. But the world's noise and Satan's temptations keep pushing Him away from us. Why? Because the cares of this life choke out the Word, if we let them. Satan has a vested interest in keeping us focused on this world and thereby, him. He will truly "lose" us if Jesus is allowed to rule our minds. The world IS the devil's workshop. Satan does "tempt" us with his version of heaven (which is vengeance). But he does something more insidious than just tempting us with the nauseating glitter of worldly things; he has a method for keeping us in the dark that borders on clever. It entails a strange use of our memory. It involves his use of selective amnesia.

Here's how Satan works it. He tempts us to make a choice in his favor. We make that choice. But then we wipe that memory from our minds. We then forget that we followed Satan's advice. Later, when the results of this choice manifest, we act surprised. "How could this happen to me?" we moan. We may even claim there is no God. We then honestly believe that we have been victims. We can justify it. We cannot remember Satan's influence, nudging us to make any choices that could have led to this. We may even think that Jesus died for our souls, but we pay for our sins. (Or New Agers may say they are the victim of karma built up in past lives.) We lower our heads in sorrow and weep at how life is so cruel. But our dysfunctional and challenged minds do have a tendency to forget. We forget that choices were made that were in flat out rebellion to what Jesus told us to do in the Word! Who, but Satan, would tempt us to make those choices? And who, but us, would deliberately forget how we fell for this temptation?

We, nevertheless, must reap what we sow. There are earthly consequences for our behavior. It really is similar to the people who have no idea how babies are conceived. They do not associate the sexual act with conception. We, in a similar, Satan induced fog, do not associate our incorrect choices with the results that seem unjustly flung on us from this mad world. In addition, we may not give credence to our inner thought life. Jesus said that if a man lusts after a woman in his heart, he has committed adultery. This implies that what we do in our hearts (or within) counts as if we are doing it in the physical world.

Who devised this system we use in which we blame everything and everyone, but us? Satan, of course. The buck stops with him. It is time to recognize the great deceiver's ploys. He tempts us, we forget we fell for it, then he listens gleefully to our wails and weeping that God isn't fair, as his choices are made manifest to wreak their havoc in this world. When we blame others, he is truly pleased with himself. He does not want to be thought of as the cause of anything. He wants us to blame everyone in a mighty way, bringing down as many people into his chaotic mess as possible. Remember, he wants to keep the world wrapped up in his works, anonymously, and not in Christ. He knows that if we knew it was him who tempted us, we would run to Jesus with no reservations. As long as he can keep us blaming other people, he's got us by our tails and can fling us easily from one situation to another.

When we can begin to recognize Satan's influences which we applied to earlier choices we have made, we can repent. Once, when through Christ Jesus, we begin making Christ-influenced choices, we will have a wonderful awakening. We will no longer be influenced by Satan to make faulty choices, nor will we willingly breathe in the fog of selective amnesia he sprays, like a tom cat, continually marking his territory in our minds.

We can begin to bless this cold and tired world with Christ's protective and powerful Spirit in us. His presence is alive in us as the Holy Spirit. God delights in our obedience to His voice. The things around us begin to come alive with His fresh spiritual sight. Serendipitous things begin to occur on a regular basis. People we need to talk to, suddenly appear (or phone). Money is channeled for special, Christ-centered and Christ-guided projects and we know we need never feel a sense of lack. The world is blessed by our vision (which is Christ's) and we actually find it to be quite pleasant. Sure, there are still appearances of death and destruction going on, but with our new vision, we know it to be appearances only. Our hearts sing of God's love and we are only too happy to share this love and joy with all who think they don't have it. Short of heaven, what more joy could there be than this?

Satan is the terrible force who has been cooking up this sickening, nauseating mess we know as the world. Let's look at him in his voluminous, puffy chef's hat and recognize his work in our world. He is the one who has been stirring up the pots of goo, belching bubbles of its thick amnesiatic fog and distributing it to those around us. But do we want to indulge in his horrible recipes? Can another choice be made? Now we get down on our knees in this stinking kitchen and pray to be influenced by Christ Jesus from now on.

He will remove the fog and keep us away from Satan's clutches. "And the windows of heaven shall open" removing the smells of death and destruction. Now we turn in our ladles of discontent and our spoonfuls of problems (one heaped on top of the other seemingly endlessly). Now we relinquish the kitchen to our Father Who is only too happy to serve us His Love forever. Amen!

Back

TOC

Next