The Devil's Work?

The Devil’s Work?

Mysteries surround me!  There are many things for which I have no explanation, choices that others make that defy reason. People find inspiration in places and from people that I don’t ‘get’ or understand. Others do things in the Name of Christ that seem weird to me. I may be tempted to judge them as being ‘of the Devil.’   I probably wouldn’t use that exact phrase, but in the past I might have demonized the situation!  I have learned to be careful before I go in that direction. God doesn’t need my permission to shake up the world. There’s a world of difference between snap judgment (bad!)) and discernment (good!). So, my aim when confronted with situations that mystify me, or even that leave me feeling some level of discomfort, is to wait, watch, and pray.

Jesus healed a man who was both blind and deaf. People saw it and were so impressed they started talking about Him with Messianic terms.  “He could be God’s expected Savior,” they said.  The religious leaders, quick to protect the status quo and God’s reputation, slapped a label on Jesus and His actions. "When they heard the report, (they) were cynical. “Black magic,” they said. “Some devil trick he’s pulled from his sleeve.”  (Matthew 12:24, The Message)  They were saying, “We don’t understand it, have no explanation in our world view that fits it, so we’ll demonize him.  We can’t have this stuff going on around here, especially when others think it might be God at work!”

Life and the Spirit have taught me that God’s Truth is persistent and powerful.  He doesn’t need me to jump in and get things straightened out. Most of the time, when that urge comes to me, I recognize it as having more to do with my own fears and preferences than it does with ‘defending’ God and/or His truth.  Oh, yes, there are aberrations of faith that need correction. There are heretical teachings that must be rejected. There are those who act in God’s Name who are only serving themselves.  Addressing them effectively, however, requires that I deal with my own fear or anger first.  If I take the offensive without being secure in His love the result will not be Christ-honoring. It will only stir up more problems.

Jesus reply to those Pharisees who attacked His work of healing moves me.  He challenged their logic and pointed them to an amazing fact.  "If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." (Matthew 12:26-28, NIV)  Those men who thought that they were defending God were really refusing to acknowledge the arrival of God’s reign!  Oh, Lord, keep us from the same mistake, I pray.

Meditate on this word and before you’re too quick to label someone or something as the Devil’s work, see what God is doing. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:8-11, NIV)