My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, rejecting the very truth that can save them (Hosea 4:6a).  Bad things happen to us because we are ignorant of the wiles, the diabolical plots, of the devil.  Instead of learning how to defeat the devil, we blame God, saying that He allowed some kind of sickness or calamity to befall.  We have created great religious excuses for the devil’s victories in our lives, when most of the time we are at fault.

Jesus said in Luke 21:34-36 that we should be cautious or our lives would be destroyed by gluttony, drunkenness or the cares of this world.  Any doctor would tell you that these three things account for almost all known diseases.  Gluttony is more than being overweight.  It is a life style that is out of balance, out of harmony with the needs of our body.  Drunkenness is selfishness personified caused by a deficiency of the soul.  The cares of the world, or worry, are simply doubt and unbelief, which is sin.

Jesus outlined our destruction as a lack of knowledge concerning the proper care of our spirit, soul and body.  Our bodies need a balanced diet; our souls need giving and loving relationships and our spirit needs the word of God so that it may operate in faith.

Jesus told us that we could escape all the demonic plots of the devil if proper attention was given to the areas he outlined in Luke 21.

John said the devil could not even touch us if we could avoid sin (I Jn. 5:18) understanding that sin is doubt or unbelief in the word of God.

Hearing God will keep us from being in the wrong place at the wrong time, will keep us from making wrong or hasty decisions and will alert us to demonic traps (Jn. 10:4-10).

Look at what happened to Job.  His kids were drunken gluttons (Job 1:1-5).  Job was so ‘worried’ about them that he was constantly making sacrifices for them.  His greatest fear being that something would happen to them (Job 3:25).  So the devil told God that Job’s fear had broken down the hedge of protection that his prayers had made.  (Fear is of the devil and he uses it like God uses faith.  Worry is the result of fear and peace is the result of faith.)  The Bible calls fear a trap of the devil (Prov. 10:24).

God did not give the devil permission to harm Job but be could not deny that the actions of Job’s children had put them in harms way nor could He deny that Job’s worry had cancelled his faith.

After Job had repented for saying things like “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away”, for accusing God and for saying things he didn’t understand, he was able to defeat the devil (Job 42).  God was able to bless Job with twice as much as he had before he fell, once he got back in faith and put his trust in the Lord.

People use the book of Job out of context when trying to explain ‘the will of God’ and why bad things happen.  In doing so they put the blame on God, when we are the ones out of balance with nature, living selfishly without concern for others and in constant sin because we have little confidence in the word of God.

So ignorant saying like, “in every life a little rain must fall” or “God gives the devil permission to harm us” or “bad things happen to teach us or punish us” all sound religious but they are contrary to the word of God.  Bad things happen to ‘good’ people because they are ignorant of the word of God and fall prey to the devil.

If you want to enjoy a life that has a lot less demonic hassles: eat right, love your enemies, live in peace and don’t sin.  You can do that by reading your Bible, living generously and praying.

The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17).

Rocky Malloy