Suffering As Satan’s Tool

Suffering As Satan’s Tool

Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. –1 Peter 5:8-9

Did you know Satan has set a goal for you? Satan’s goal is to alienate you from God. In fact, according to 1 Peter 5:8, Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.” And how does he “devour” us? One method Satan employs to destroy us is to bring suffering into our lives.

That is certainly what we see as we read how Satan afflicted Job. Satan asked God for permission to harm Job, and God gave the permission. That’s a hard one for us, because it just doesn’t fit with our understanding of a loving, protecting God, does it? But it is clear. God gave the permission and set the parameters for Job’s suffering. He said, “Okay, you can put him and his faith to the test, but you can only go this far.” The first time Satan came to him asking permission to harm Job, God told him, “You can bring catastrophe, but you can’t harm his body.” And the second time Satan came to God asking to harm his body, God said, “Okay, but you can’t take his life.”

What is it Satan wanted to do? He wanted to go to work on Job’s confidence in and commitment to God using the tool of extreme hardship. A hammer can be used to build or to break apart. The difference is in the intent of the person using the tool. Likewise, experiencing suffering can build up your faith and force you to go deeper with God, or it can crush your spirit and squash your soul’s longing for God. That is certainly what Satan wants to do with the tool of suffering in your life. He wants to hammer away at your thoughts of the goodness of God and replace them with dark thoughts about God. He wants to chisel away at your confidence in the character of God and cause you to question his authority in your life.

Don’t let him do it! Cling to God in your suffering. Refuse to let the devil devour you or destroy your faith.

My great Protector, guard me from the evil one who wants to destroy me by destroying my relationship with you. Help me to trust you and cling to you even when I am tempted to blame you, rather than the devil, for the pain in my life.

DIGGING DEEPER