The more time you spend walking out this journey with the Lord, the more very simple, yet profound (at least to you) epiphanies you have. This week I have gone through this experience again and want to share it with you.
As I go to explain what God was showing me, I realize I may not be able to explain it in a way that seems as profound to the reader/listener as it does to me. It may come off as elementary and your response may be, "Well, duh!"
That's just a chance I'll have to take because I really want to share this epiphany and hope that it has the possibility of rendering into your life the same peace it's giving me through the realization of the truth of it.
At the core of what God allowed me to realize is the fact that because we, that is, humanity, turned over the world to Satan in the garden of Eden by committing the first sin of partaking of the forbidden fruit, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that whenever we experience a blessing in this world from God, IT IS IN SPITE OF THIS FACT and is at it's core, A MIRACLE.
Many people complain about the terrible circumstances that can occur in life and want to blame God. For example, a family member dies, a best friend, someone is blinded, maimed, paralyzed or loses a limb, you know, all the most horrific outcomes that could happen to any of us, and the result is people raise their fist to heaven, cuss out God, and put the blame entirely on Him.
But the reality is that Satan has come but for "to rob, kill and destroy." The mere fact that such things aren't happening to every one of us every single day and that there are blessings in between these events even though most of us having lived lives of sin and turned over our lives over to Satan, IS A MIRACLE, A BLESSING that WE DON'T DESERVE.
I often hear of Christians going through these "dark moments," of life, where circumstances can appear quite bleak, and they testify of turning their backs on God and placing the blame squarely on Him. But the blame lies with us, for we were with our ancient parents when they sinned that first sin, and we have shown their same nature in continuing to sin, each and everyone of us, ever since.
The fact that sin leads to death is fundamental core understanding of the Bible. And, the fact that we aren't maimed and killed at any point in the time lines of our lives speaks to the incredible LOVE and MERCY of God. And yet we wag our fingers at him, and like the narcissists we've been taught to be, we take NO ACOUNTABILITY for mankind's part in having such an evil world, that it was our own behaviors which created the resulting consequences and evil outcomes.
Very few of us have lived the "perfect" life that God attributed to Job when Satan came before Him. God asked Satan with regard to Job, "...Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil" (Job 1:8)?
And yet much evil was allowed to befall Job after Satan replied, "Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand (Job 1:9-12).
So it wasn't for wrongdoing that evil befell Job, but because of Satan's efforts to do what is his nature to do. As Jesus said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy..." (John 10:10). Satan had his eye on one of God's favorites (a favorite only because Job obeyed and kept His Word), which caused Satan to want to destroy him even more so.
But why did God allow it? I used to think it was because God allows us to go through tests in this life that prove our obedience to Him and His will. This, in part, is true, but I also see something differently, that there was a certain legality of Satan's request.
Legality? You might ask if I mean to imply that Satan had a legal right to harm Job? I'm not entirely sure the answer but what I'm leaning toward is the fact that this world BELONGS TO SATAN because WE, AS HUMANITY GAVE IT TO HIM, at least the part we gave over to him by agreeing with his lie in the garden. This was such a pivotal moment, and the resulting curses on both woman and man were put in place and Satan was made the "little g" god, or as Jesus called him, the prince of this world.
Job even seemed to understand this in the kerfuffle with his wife, "Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips" (Job 2:9-10).
I think Job understood this world itself was an evil system. How can you live in it and not be exposed to it. This is why Jesus asks us to be lights, because this world is FULL DARKNESS. It's the murkiest muddiest, blackest darkness you could imagine. The only good that remains in it is the initial creation of God, which is and was good.
So we gave over this world, which was ours because God had given it to us and turned it over to Satan. Yes, Satan still ultimately reports to God, but those of us who have been born again have been born into another kingdom and therefore we are not of this world, nor of this kingdom. Jesus even said, as He was about to go to His own death at the hands of the wicked, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36).
So you see, this is NOT OUR WORLD. Any blessings we get in this world ARE IN SPITE of this horrendous system ruled by a tyrannical evil dictator called Satan or Lucifer or the devil, or that old serpent, or the dragon.
So the conclusion I've come to is simple. In this world we should expect there to be evil, and to be pleasantly surprised and completely grateful to God when goodness and blessings are part of our lives, when God's hedge is about us. This world is temporal, thanks be to God, and we only have a short time to wait as the tribulation begins for the Lord to return, but during this time we should continue to be grateful to God for the little blessings that miraculously make it into our lives through the extreme and utter darkness of this world.
This world will never be the utopia God promises in the new heaven and the new earth. But we can have the spiritual fruit, the joy of the Lord, the peace of God, the perfect love of God, in spite of all the darkness that's around us.
This is why Jesus said something that was hard for me to understand as a young Christian, but NOW it is EASY to understand, especially after this epiphany, He said, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26-27).
Jesus is saying you must hate your own life because you realize that this life lived in such a system of sin and utter darkness ruled by a dastardly prince called Satan is by default horrible, is by default NOT what God ever intended but what mankind CHOSE through our progenitors Adam and Eve and our continued sin.
This resulting cesspool of a world is ON US. It is our responsibility and we should ever be sorry Adam and Eve started this and that we, as those who have sinned also, kept this wicked system going, and spent at least part of our lives living in harmony with it instead of fighting against it.
So next time something bad happens, realize that God was not the one to set in order the events that led to evil ruling this world, WE DID. Stop wagging your finger at God and accept this is the way things are, for now, that this scenario is only temporary. That God promises something much better:
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:3-4).
That's what God had intended from the beginning, and yet in spite of us, and our sin, He made a way back to Him through the Blood of His own Son Jesus Christ who He sent to this world to be the propitiation of our sins.
Satan has sold us a bill of goods that this world can be perfect for us, that we can have everything we want, be rich or famous, have a beautiful lover, etc. He promises us a false utopia on this earth for which he gives to people at great cost: their own souls.
"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul" (Matthew 16:26)?
To get that temporary earthly wealth and "blessing" Satan requires sin, and the worship of him. If we die in such a condition we will lose our souls and never know God's promise of a world where there is no more death sorrow or crying, or even any more pain.
But still, in this life, this horrible life which we should hate because of Satan's position over this world, let us count our blessings, for they are many. We have been protected from the enemy more than you could ever imagine. Satan and his demons would torture and kill each and every one of God's creation (including the animals and plants) every single moment of every single day if he were left to his own devices. And we were the ones who turned to him instead of to God by obeying Satan, and thus we brought this darkness on all of creation.
Please understand this and repent for having wagged your finger at God or for falsely putting the blame on Him for something for which He had nothing to do. This world is OUR RESPONSIBILITY inasmuch as we sought Satan and his kingdom and made ourselves a part of it. I hear the Lord saying,
"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4).
Come out, "suck it up," or "deal with it," I should say, that is, deal with the recognition of the horrible nature of this world, take responsibility for your part in it, repent and seek forgiveness of God, and commit to overcoming this world so you can be part of the next. May it ever be so for you, in the mighty name of Jesus I pray. A-men.
