Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Scriptural Jigsaw Puzzle

Some things in scripture are puzzling. For instance, why does Paul say Satan hindered him and his companions from visiting the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 2:18)? Doesn't scripture tell us that no plan of God can be stopped by Satan (Job 42:2, Isaiah 55:10-11; Ezekiel 12:25).

Here is another puzzler. 1 Chronicles 21:1 says Satan caused King David to count the children of Israel. Yet 2 Samuel 24:1 says God incited David to count the people. Isn't this a contradiction? No, not really. The different viewpoint only points out that God uses whomever or whatever he chooses to get his will accomplished (Acts 4:27-28).

Does this mean we live with fatalism, whatever happens, happens? No. Being a Christian is not equivalent to being a fatalist. Scripture tells us we are in an active battle against evil (Ephesians 6:11-12). Jesus told his disciples to watch and pray that they might be victorious against temptation (Matthew 26:41). Paul writes to the Corinthians that they need to be actively in gaged in the battle (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) and the Psalmist wrote that God's children trample the enemy (Psalm 91).

As soldiers in God's army we pray for wisdom, strength, and boldness; then we actively engage in whatever is set before us, resting confident in God's power to defeat Satan (Ephesians 6:18-20; Philippians 4:6-7; Colossians 3:23; Romans 14:8).