Have you ever wondered why God allows suffering, pain, war, and sickness?
The answer is found in the Hebrew Scriptures in the book of Job. In this book we have the opportunity to look behind the scenes and see the war between God and satan.
When God was meeting with His angels, satan came boasting of his rulership over the earth. God pointed to Job as a true follower of God. Satan insinuated that Job only loved God for selfish motives. To prove satan wrong God allowed satan to destroy all of Job's possessions and cause him terrible physical pain. Through it all God was able to demonstrate to all the universe that human beings are able to love God unselfishly, whether God has given them health and wealth or not.
To reveal even more fully that it is satan and not God who causes suffering the Messiah left heaven and became a human being so that He could prove that it is possible to be tempted by satan and not sin. Satan got so angry that he used human beings to kill the Messiah. But God in heaven was able to raise Y’shua from the dead.
Thus God has defeated satan. Satan can no longer get at God, but satan still harasses God's children. We do not need to be afraid because the Messiah has gained the victory for us. satan is like a caged lion. He can only hurt our souls if we stick our arm in the cage. God has promised that He will bring fire upon satan and devour him in the flames until he becomes ashes, destroyed forever.
What is God waiting for? He is waiting for us to over come satan just as Job and the Messiah overcame him through God's power.
Picture originally found here
