A Bible Devotion

JOHN 10:10 NKJ 10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Bad things happen to people because the devil is out to steal, kill, and destroy everyone.

So unless humans understand and appropriate the redemption accomplished for them by Jesus Christ, and resist the devil's thoughts and works, bad things will happen.

God cannot be blamed for any bad thing that happens, because He has provided a way all people can be protected from the devil's attacks.

It is like we were drowning and God has thrown us a life preserver, but if we choose not to receive His life preserver and use it, then we cannot blame God if we drown.

We can learn from observing the life of Jesus Christ, who was Heaven's perfect representative, that bad things do not come from God. Jesus fed the multitudes, healed the sick, rebuked deadly storms, and loved people. Not once did He do anything to hurt anyone. This should establish clearly that God our Father is not responsible for the bad things happening to people.

God is our answer, not our problem; our Helper and deliverer, not our enemy.

God does not desire bad things to happen to anyone, and He is not responsible for any bad thing that happens.

Then, who is responsible? The truth is that we, human beings, are responsible. Yes, the devil is behind all the evil that happens, but he cannot operate without our cooperation. Human beings have authority on earth, and it is only through our wrong choices that evil is allowed to operate on earth.

Sadly, the church has not understood this as clearly as it should have. So many often repeat lies such as "the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." That was said in ignorance by Job, for Scripture clearly says it was satan who brought the evil that robbed Job (Job 2:7).

Job did not know what was happening in his trial, but we can read the story and see that all the bad happening to Job was the result of what satan did. And satan does not work for God, but is rebelling against Him.

Bad things happen because our Creator gave us freedom to make choices, and many people have been making wrong choices.

Bad things happen because mankind has turned away from God, rejecting Him and His loving ways. We fell for the devil's lies, and turned against God. The only way to stop bad things from happening is for us all to turn back to God.

Bad things happen on earth because mankind has allowed the devil and his ideas a place here. And the devil is encouraging people to make wrong decisions in every way he can.

But we can't really blame the devil, because humans have free will to choose what we do. We can choose to do right and resist the devil's temptations to make wrong choices. Unless some human being decides to give the devil a place, he cannot do anything on earth. Also Jesus redeemed us by His blood, defeated the devil for us, and gave us authority to stop him through the Name of Jesus.

The people of the world are in the darkness of ignorance. They have not understood the truth. For example, life and death is in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21), but most people are ignorant of that and always speak negatively, then wonder why negative things happen to them, not realizing it was because of their own words, which opened the door for the devil.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:4 NKJ 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

Many people are blinded to the truth, even those who are children of God. Jesus said truth would set us free if we would live in it (John 8:31-32). Just hearing the truth is not enough. We must act on it in order to be free from bad things.

Why has God allowed this situation on earth to go on, with evil happening? Because it allows the universe to see clearly the results of rebelling against God. It also allows God's children an opportunity to overcome evil and to walk in love, so we can grow into more Christ-likeness.

So while it may seem now that God is guilty in allowing evil to continue, it is actually God's mercy in allowing humans more time to turn to God, and also allowing us to see the results of following the devil instead of God.

If you still think God should be faulted for allowing humanity to experience so much pain, you are judging prematurely. God has promised in the end to make everything right. He will wipe away every tear and take away all pain and sadness, so that it will be as if it never happened, except for the lessons we learned.

Why hasn't God stopped evil? Because He is raising a family, and it is His desire that we, His children, learn how to stop evil. He defeated all evil at the cross, and gave us the authority to stop it in His Name.

After Jesus defeated the devil completely, He left him loose here for awhile so we could practice resisting him. If the devil still has any place of influence, it is because we Christians have not done our job completely.

So, while God's long-term plan will exclude all evil from His creation, He is allowing it to continue for a period so His children might have opportunity to understand it and overcome it (Romans 12:21, Revelation 3:21).

Part of the Good News of Jesus is that He has defeated the devil and stripped him of authority over us. Now, by the grace of God and through the blood of Jesus we can walk in freedom and victory over all evil. As we do so, nothing shall by any means hurt us (Luke 10:19).

SAY THIS: God is not to blame for the bad things in life.