It’s Not the devil

I was sitting at our kitchen table one evening eating supper. Suddenly there was a loud roar that you could hear in the distance. I knew that it was just a truck with loud pipes. Living in the country, I’m used to the sound so I didn’t really pay any attention to it. My son Isaac did though. He asks, “What was that?” I told him that it was just a truck. He then replies, “I think it was the devil.” With irritation in my voice I replied, “No it’s not the devil. I told you that it was a truck and that’s what it is. Everything is not the devil.” Though this may have been an innocent and maybe even humorous encounter it has a lesson in it.

The Pharisees were guilty of giving the devil credit when they didn’t understand Jesus. They said This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. (Matthew 12:24 KJV). They didn’t understand the supernatural power that Jesus had and because they didn’t understand it, they accredited it to the devil.

Sometimes things happen in our lives that we don’t understand. All too often our immediate response is, “It’s the devil.” Car breaks down, it’s the devil. Ain’t got enough money, it’s the devil. Can’t find a job, it’s the devil. Bills piling up, you guessed it, it’s the devil. No it’s not, it’s most of the time just life.

Now I know that the enemy can attack and cause turmoil. Yes many of these very things can be an attack.

Also know that it says this about the devil in Isaiah 14:16 ISV “Those who see you will stare at you. They will wonder about you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who made kingdoms quake. Yes people will look at him and say, “This guy, this is the one that everyone was scared of?”

Now, we must not be ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11 KJV).

Plus we must be clear-minded and alert. Your opponent, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8 ISV)

But a lot of times, like I said, it’s just life. As a coworker told me once, “I know who my worst enemy is. The one that causes me the most problems. Because I look at him in the mirror every morning.” Sometimes our problems are the results of the bad choices that we’ve made. We go buy a car that we can’t afford, we go out to eat with no regards to our bank account. Then when we don’t have money we want to shift the blame. No, we’re just not good stewards. What am I trying to say here? One thing is to quit giving the devil credit for everything, he’s not that powerful. Secondly, understand sometimes it’s just life. It’s not somebody out to get you. Finally we should take responsibility for our own actions and make sure we aren’t the person that is out to get us.

Matthew 5:45 ISV …he makes his sun rise on both evil and good people, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous.