HEAVEN’S PERSONAL DELIVERY SERVICE A STUDY OF ANGELS FROM THE BIBLE

Charles B. Hodges

LESSON 9

Why Does God Let Satan Hurt Us?

“Seeing the Unseen” – Joe Beam

PREVIOUS LESSONS ARE POSTED ONLINE AT WEATHERFORDCOC.ORG

UNDER TOPIC “SERMONS AND LESSONS”

Continuing the argument of J. Preston Eby ………

"The trial of your faith is much more precious than gold that perishes" (I Pet.1:7). Surely this is the lesson learned

by Job, and this is the lesson being learned by us as we

see our earthly dependencies passing away and withering

as grass before our eyes. "But He knows the way that I take: when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10). How could we have a more perfect illustration of

how God uses EVIL and God uses SATAN as an instrument

for our good? Although Job suffered intensely, yet in the

end HE WAS GREATLY BLESSED BY HIS HARD AND

BITTER EXPERIENCE. If God thus uses Satan, the

embodiment of evil, as a minister for good in the case of

one individual, is it hard to believe that ALL EVIL is

utilized by God for good in all cases?

The New Testament abounds with this same truth, Did

you notice how strangely Matthew and Mark speak of

Christ's temptation? "And immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil" (Mk. 1:12; Matt. 4:1). What a strange statement! The Holy

Spirit of God drives the sinless Son of God into the

wilderness to be tempted of Satan, the arch enemy of all

righteousness, a murderer from the beginning, and the

father of lies! Ah, but it was necessary for the Son to be

PROVEN, to be made STRONG, to OVERCOME in these

realms before proceeding on into His glorious ministry

and the death of the cross. Truly God creates evil and

uses it, too, for His glory!

The apostle Paul fully understood this

great truth and practiced it himself. He

instructed the Corinthian believers to

"deliver such a one to Satan FOR THE

DESTRUCTION OF THE FLESH that the

spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord

Jesus," and he declares in his letter to

Timothy that he himself has delivered

certain brethren unto Satan "that they

might learn not to blaspheme."

But the apostle had experienced something of

this kind of discipline also, for he says, "Lest I

should be exalted above measure through the

abundance of the revelations, there was given

me a thorn in the flesh, THE MESSENGER OF

SATAN TO BUFFET ME, lest I should be exalted

above measure." All this clearly shows that Satan

is a creature created by God for a specific work,

and even that work shall result in blessing for

God's children and redound to the glory of God!

[to come back or reflect upon a person as to honor or disgrace ]

Dear saints of God, don't believe for one

moment that anything in all God's great

universe is out of control! God is GOD, He IS in

full control of every sphere of activity, and Satan

himself is under the province of God.

May God enlighten our minds to perceive the

truth that Satan has no power at all except that

which God delegates to him.

Do you REALLY believe that Satan could cause

all the trouble in the world UNLESS GOD HAD

ORDAINED IT?

My friend, if you believe Satan is a problem to

Almighty God, then your God is entirely too small!

Satan is no thorn in God's side who made him in

the first place, who binds his hands daily, who sets

his boundaries and limits his power and marks his

path.

Oh, yes, those who would be Sons of God MUST

OVERCOME HIM. Beloved, when that purpose is

accomplished, Satan will have completed his

course as an INSTRUMENT in the hand of

God who has everything under control!

Hallelujah!

Seeing The Unseen- Joe Beam (1994)

Chapter 16

WHY DOES GOD

LET SATAN HURT US?

Case study of a woman who was abducted and

raped:

Her written perspective nine years later-

“After this experience, I spent a great deal of

time thinking about God, my relationship with

Him, and what I believed about Him. I

searched and I prayed for understanding. I

wanted to be healed, and I wanted desperately

to feel the power of God’s presence. My spirit

and my faith were tested; my spiritual journey

in the months that followed was painful—and

also wonderful

It seemed to me this event was a

classic case of good versus evil—an

event that led to the infamous question

of why bad things happen to good

people. But it finally occurred to me

that the question was not “why me” as

much as “why not me?” God did not

promise me that nothing bad would

ever happen to me. His own Son was

crucified, suffering the cruelest death

known to man.

Do I believe God could have stopped this tragedy

from happening to me? Absolutely. The question

is : Why didn’t He? I believe God wants me to love,

honor, and serve Him because I choose to. God

never forced Himself on me or made me serve

Him. He certainly has the power to do so. But the

Almighty God, who could annihilate the universe

with a mere thought, gave his creation free will. I

have the gift of choosing. But as I have choices, so

do others. Choices have consequences. Choices

have blessings. If I accept the concept that I have

free will, I must also accept that the two men who

raped me have free will as well.

God wants a real and honest relationship with me. In

order for that kind of relationship to exist, I must

choose it. God gave us the choices from the very

beginning. I had often wondered why God placed the

tree of knowledge of good and evil right in the middle

of the Garden and then told Adam and Eve not to eat

from it. Now I understand that God was giving them a

choice about whether to obey Him and believe Him.

The two men who raped me made a different choice

than I, and our choices came into conflict. It would

appear that I had been overcome and that Satan had

triumphed by inflicting great pain and damage into my

life. And for a while, that’s how I felt.

But then the blessings of choosing God came God

allowed me to profit from an awful and devastating

event. So many good things are in my life now. I have

wonderful friends—most of whom I would never have

met or known were it not for this experience. I have a

job that allows me to work with and serve crime

victims. I have a deeper relationship with God. I am

spiritually wiser and more mature . I have been

blessed beyond what I can tell in these pages, and I am

very grateful. Romans 8:28 came alive in my life: “All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.”

I chose God and He did not fail me. I

continue to recover, and God

continues to teach me. The two men

who raped me did not choose God and

were a vessel of Satan to do harm.

They are both serving lengthy prison

terms in a maximum security facility.

They and their families suffer as a

result.

Now I ask you—who won?”

Julie now ministers to crime victims through her

job with the State of Alabama. She serves as a

volunteer rape counselor. Her story and her

understanding of God inspires and gives

strength to face trials. Her faith and endurance

will strengthen your own faith, giving you greater

spiritual stamina when attacked by the evil ones.

Julie doesn’t have a single fond memory of

her terrible ordeal. But the blessings brought

from it to her and to those she touches far

outweigh the evil that the satanic beings

inflicted on her.

GOD’S WAYS ARE BEYOND UNDERSTANDING

There are reasons God allows the evil ones to

harm us. I can’t explain them to your full

satisfaction, but I can give you some insights that

might give you peace. The only way anyone—even

God—could explain the problem of human

suffering to your complete satisfaction would be if

you possessed divine knowledge, wisdom and

power. When Job questioned God about the harm

in his life, God replied by pointing out Job’s lack of

divine knowledge. He made it clear that if He

explained why He let Satan attack him, Job

wouldn’t be able to understand it.

Job 38:1-7:

38 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He

said: 2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words

without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you,

and you shall answer me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set,

or who laid its cornerstone— 7 while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

God told Job he had no right to question a Being so

superior that He is beyond human comprehension.

He pointedly reminded Job of his sovereignty.

Job 41:11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?

Everything under heaven belongs to me. I read those words spoken by God and I know I have

no right to question His judgment or doubt his love. I

can no more explain Him than I can create a

new world. Therefore, I accept God’s sovereignty

and trust that He knows everything that will happen.

He intervenes as necessary to accomplish His holy

will.

He assures us He watches and that we should not be

afraid. Jesus comforts us saying,

Matt 10: 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[b] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. That’s the important thing to remember. God watches

over us and never abandons us—even when it

sometimes appears He isn’t there

Having made clear my lack of divine knowledge

and my keen faith in the Father, I still believe I

can give you some insight into why bad things

happen to good people. The Scriptures and

principles that follow give me peace and hope.

May they do the same for you.

MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD

Sometimes God allows satanic forces to attack

me because I need to grow or change or learn

some important lesson. He doesn’t let them

defeat me, but He does permit them to cause me

great struggle. He allows it because I need it

1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials..

7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls

According to a goldsmith, the first century

process of putting gold through intense

fire was to:

•Burn away the impurities

•Bring the gold to such a high gloss that

he could see his reflection

•Make the gold malleable enough to

shape

•Increase the strength of the gold

•Increase the value of the gold

As the goldsmith worked the gold

through the process, he had to be

careful to prevent two things:

•He could never let the gold become

too heated, or it would bubble and

ruin, becoming less valuable

•He could not let the gold cool too

quickly from the fire, or it would

become brittle and useless

But isn’t it wonderful to know that as God

allows Satan to attack us, He uses

Satan’s attacks to bless us. Just as the

goldsmith works the gold, God allows our

faith to be made more precious by the

trials satanic beings bring to us.

God uses Satan against himself

Let’s examine the comparison in refining

gold and refining faith.

BURNING AWAY IMPURITIES

Untried, unproven faith may not be faith at all.

Many people who think they have faith in Jesus

actually follow an idea rather than a master.

Jesus spoke of these kinds of people in the

parable of the soils.

Matt 13: 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

God allows Satan to bring trials into our

lives to enable our faith to grow roots—so

that our faith will last. All of us who have

come to the realization that we have

nothing but God cling to our faith as our

most precious possession. The trials and

griefs we suffer burn the impurities from

our faith, making it more precious than

gold. Faith is our link to the power of God

REFLECTING THE GOLDSMITH

When the gold reached such a level of gloss that the

goldsmith could see himself clearly in it, it was deemed a

precious and valuable product.

The same is true of the people of God. When they reflect

Him, they are more valuable in His cause. When satanic

forces attack the people of God, those who cling to their

faith become more like God. God wants us to be

participants in His divine nature (2 Pet 2:4). It shouldn’t

surprise us that He uses Satan to make us partakers of

that nature. If a Christian persists in some weakness or

sin trials may come to refocus him on the important,

turning him from those things that fade into emptiness.

We become more like God. We reflect him clearly,

revealing Him to those who interact with us

BECOMING MALLEABLE

Like gold, Christians are best shaped when malleable. To

be malleable is to be capable of being shaped or molded.

It requires being flexible and pliable. Since gold is a metal,

heat must be applied to it to make it malleable.

The apostle Paul had a strong personality that drove him,

leading him to success in life. He had many things going

for him that set him apart from the crowd. Phil 3:4 If

someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence

in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day,

of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew

of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal,

persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the

law, faultless.

Because of Paul's intensity and ego,

God continually used trials to keep him

listening to His direction. When Jesus

first approached Paul to convert him,

He struck him blind for three days,

making him reflect on his behavior and

his misguided zeal. After making him

an apostle, God kept Paul in the fire

that kept him pliable.

2 Cor 12:7 Therefore, in order to keep me from

becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a

messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I

pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he

said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power

is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all

the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s

power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I

delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in

persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I

am strong.

Did Paul resent his suffering? You read his answer.

What effect did it have on his view of God and his

service to Him?

Phil 3:7 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider

loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider

everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of

knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have

lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain

Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness

of my own that comes from the law, but that which is

through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes

from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—

yes, to know the power of his resurrection and

participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his

death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection

from the dead.

INCREASING STRENGTH

Goldsmiths make gold stronger each time they

put it through the annealing process. Annealing is

the process of heating, hammering, shaping, and

cooling gold. Because gold can be ruined by too

much heat, the annealing process isn’t a single

step but a series of steps. None of us enjoys

hurting. We don’t like the learning process, but

we do like the strength and the value it brings to

our lives.

IMPARTING VALUE

The importance of continuing the refining

process rather than stopping at an intermediate

point.

From a pound of steel you can go through a

short process and make horseshoes or go

further and make hypodermic needles. The

more designed and better shaped the metal, the

greater the value.

If God wants to change your shape or design to

make you more valuable to His work, He must

put you through another fire, no matter what

you’ve already been through

A VALUABLE EXAMPLE

What would Joseph have said/felt about his

situation early along in Egypt?

When finally out of prison and naming his

first-born son he said : Gen 41:51 51 Joseph

named his firstborn Manasseh[e] and said, “It

is because God has made me forget all my

trouble and all my father’s household.”

Note the variety of training categories Joseph

had: Potiphar’s household and fields; political

insiders in prison; prison management; lord of

Pharoah’s house and nation

Joseph’s ultimate perspective: Gen 45: 5 And

now, do not be distressed and do not be angry

with yourselves for selling me here, because it

was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the

land, and for the next five years there will be no

plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of

you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and

to save your lives by a great deliverance.[a] 8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but

God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his

entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

THE CAREFUL GOLDSMITH:

1 Cor 10: 13 No temptation[c] has

overtaken you except what is common to

mankind. And God is faithful; he will not

let you be tempted[d] beyond what you

can bear. But when you are tempted,[e] he

will also provide a way out so that you can

endure it.

2 Cor 1: 8 We do not want you to be uninformed,

brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we

experienced in the province of Asia. We were under

great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that

we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had

received the sentence of death. But this happened that

we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises

the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly

peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set

our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you

help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on

our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer

to the prayers of many.

JOE BEAM CONCLUSION:

There are at least two reasons for a

Christian to “suffer grief in all sorts of

trials.” The first is for his own growth

and spiritual good. The second is for

the good of others.

In my seminars I phrase it this way:

“Sometimes I need to suffer;

sometimes you need for me to suffer.”

Weatherford Daily News 8/30/14—Ask

Dr. Dixie Yoder: “Why doesn’t God stop

evil?

In about 300 BC Epicurus questioned the

“why” of evil in the riddle of Epicurus:

If God is willing to prevent evil, but not

able, He is not omnipotent. If He is able,

but not willing, he is malevolent. If He is

both able and willing, then whence

comes evil? If He is neither able nor

willing, why call Him God?

Is God willing to stop evil? This important

question can only be accurately answered in light

of the true character of God. From an earthly

perspective, Habakkuk posed the question

centuries sago: does God actively oppose evil, or

does He simply ignore it because He can’t

eliminate it? Habakkuk 1: 13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

From the apocalyptic Throne Room martyred saints

with a heavenly understanding of God’s holiness,

ask not the suspicious “if” or “why”; but a trusting

“when?” Rev 6:10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer,

If our questions are not rooted in the confidence of God’s

absolute hatred of evil, the compost of our confusion

becomes fertile ground for the doubtful, suspicious “if”

and “why”. Accepting God’s pure, perfect love toward

humankind by faith enables us to trust God’s immutable,

righteous hatred of evil, even while waiting through

times when injustice seems to prevail.

2Tim 2: 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” [evil] Prov 8:13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

3 John :11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. Eph 5:1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God

Evil presently continues, not because God is

uncaring, nor powerless; but because the eternal

process of eradicating evil requires time and

patience. We’re limited in our ability to grasp

God’s infinitely righteous purposes, which will not

be satisfied with anything less than complete

elimination of evil and unequivocal acceptance

of God’s perfect holiness and justice. Knowing

His character enables us to accept by faith that

God knows exactly what He is doing, and that He

is never in error.

Psalm 37:12 The wicked plot against the

righteous and gnash their teeth at them; 13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he knows their day is coming. 14 The wicked draw the sword

and bend the bow

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose ways are upright. 15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,

and their bows will be broken.