Tag: Struggles

The devil is real. Evil people exist, and terrible things do happen.
Good people often suffer. Many innocent people are in prison and jail for wrongful accusations.

In fact, good people suffer for being good. Imagine that!
Job suffered for being a righteous man in his time. The devil falsely and intentionally accused job.

Satan replied to the LORD, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. Job 2:4

Yes, the devil is the real enemy!

Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.” Revelation 12:12

Satan has been an evil person for a long time. He hates everything God created.

He enjoys inflicting pain on people. He lies and steals. 

For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

He doesn’t have mercy on his victim. He doesn’t hear the cry for help.

Sin causes a lot of problems for man, but Satan is the magnifier of all evils.

He has some power because when he fell as an angel, he retained few angelic qualities.

“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. Isaiah 14:12

He is a spirit. So, you can’t see him with your naked eyes. He can influence the mind through actions. If he can see a pattern, he capitalizes on it to influence subsequent behaviors.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
 
He cannot control you if you don’t allow it, but he can manipulate you if you allow him. He influences through lies, deceit, and fear.

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Romans 6:16

So, the real enemy is not your neighbor or the next person on a bus or the train.

The real enemy is not your immediate family members or people from your village.

What he does is to poison people’s mind and makes them think and do havoc. So, since he is not in a physical form, he uses people to do his work. Evil people are influenced and used by the devil.

Your victory lies in aligning yourself to the supreme God.

Terrible things happen and await those who don’t believe in the saving work of God.

Job survived the devil’s schemes and onslaught, so can you.

Good people live in the same world that evil/bad people live.

In my last post, I gave three causes of wickedness. They are sin, Satan, and evil people.

When God was about to punish Sodom and Gomorrah, he spared no one. The only reason he spared Lot and his family was Abraham’s intercession.

The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do Genesis 18:17

Abraham started talking to God about Lot and his family from verse twenty-three.

Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? Genesis 18:23

So, without impactful and continual prayers, terrible things and challenges do happen to good people all the time.

David is an example of how good people suffer. He suffered a great deal from enemies.

I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears. Psalm 6:6

My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies. Psalm 6:7

Another example is Jesus. Jesus prayed to stay alive to complete his work on earth.

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35

We are all going to face challenges in life, and terrible things do happen to good people.

Based on the examples I gave, the solution is prayers. David prayed, and Jesus prayed.

Although Job was a good man, he experienced the most bizarre situation in one day when he lost everything.

Deliverance came in the end. Your deliverance and help will come and will come quicker than you expected in Jesus’ name.

Commit yourself to more act of prayer by checking my prayer bank

 

Although we established that God is good and does not cause terrible things to occur, he often allows them to happen. If you read my last post in isolation without my introduction or following up with me on the subsequent posts, you might get confused.

Job did nothing wrong, but it was the devil who accused Job when he asked permission from God to try/test Job’s faith and consistency.

Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Job 1:9

Satan caused a lot of havoc in our lives. I call him the wrecking machine. He doesn’t stop working. He has a lot of demons working on his behalf. So, his havoc is enormous.

You need to realize how important this is so that you can stand your ground against every work of darkness.

Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

Remember, Job did nothing wrong at the time Satan attacked him. Therefore, challenges are not always because we’ve done something wrong. It might just be the devil doing his thing.

Just pray and ask God for help in this instance. 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19

 

Today, I expand on my last post. I am discussing the life of Job, a good man in his own time.

The next lesson we can learn is that God is a good God, and He is NOT the cause of terrible things that happen in our lives or our world. 

I understand the difficulty of this narration, but we have established that God is good, and everything He does is good.

When God created the world and everything in it, they were all in undamaged shape and working perfectly.

Assuming God is the cause of your woes and problem, why do we have to pray to Him?

Do you go to consult the help of your problem-causer? No! Instead, you seek help from someone who you know is nice to you.

Even those who do not believe in God often shout the name Jesus! when they are in trouble.

Everyone often exclaims: “oh my God!” (Shorten for omg) when in danger, trouble, or confusion. So, if God causes it, why do we call on Him for help subconsciously?

So, what causes our pain in this life?

Sin causes the foundational problem of man. For instance, when a man robs a bank, he gets caught and punished for the crime. If you sleep with your neighbor’s wife, he gets mad and drags you down, etc. Sin causes most of the problems we face in life, and therefore there are laws in the land.

Satan causes other problems on earth. He is a manipulator and a liar. He has come to steal your things (Joy, Peace, Money, etc.). He is out to kill (causes physical injury, death through any means) and destroys everything on his path.

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10

The last person that causes man’s problem is man himself. It could be you or the next person to you or the other person who knows the person that you know.

So, the next time you are in trouble, shout to God for help. He cares!

Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. Psalm 55:22

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7

The next time, we go deeper into the case of Job. 

Peace!