“But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.” (1 Sam. 16:14)
I am not quite sure if you are aware of this, but have you noticed that there are no recorded instances of King Saul asking the Lord to remove that evil spirit from him, of coming to the Lord in heartfelt repentance to be freed from it. He sought relief in other forms, by calling upon David to play on an instrument for him, by surrounding himself with his army, even by visiting the witch of Endor, but no prayers to the Lord.
The world calls these types of events that enter into our lives luck, chance and coincidence, but the question is, what do you call them, what name have you given those events that not only disrupt your life by simple inconvenience, but at times alter the very path that you have been on and have expected your life to continue in, and how do you attempt to effect change upon them?
I do not believe that the Lord sends an evil spirit upon any of His children today, those who are in Christ, but He does chastise us when necessary, and He does allow certain circumstances to enter into our lives to allow us the opportunity to draw closer to Him, circumstances that most of the time we see as not only disruptive and inconvenient to us, but actually as an adverse condition we would just as soon not experience.
The words of Psalms 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee,” does no one any good whatsoever unless His word is applied and trusted in, no matter what occurs. When Peter went out and wept bitterly, (Luke 22:62) while Job sat on that dung hill, (Job 2:8) when Noah was informed that all flesh that breathed air upon the earth was going to die, they did not see these things as bad luck, but as the will of God for His glory, and each of them, as countless others have throughout the ages, trusted in His will.
That is why these things happen in the lives of those who have been crucified with Christ, so that the Most High will be glorified in our lives, but what happens if you do not do that, what happens if you continue to be as Job was, sitting in the ashes of decades or more of life now gone forever, not exactly complaining, but not glorifying Him either for those circumstances.
Accepting the will of God while still questioning Him in reverential trust and submission is still glorifying the Lord. Humble service never questions the motives of the Almighty.
Twice it is mentioned that Job did not lose his integrity before the Lord, (1:22, 2:9) he accepted the circumstances, “And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) He did not blame or curse God. And so therefore in that way, the Lord was glorified, even through all the questionings by Job.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) This is not a verse that all can comprehend, especially in those moments when the circumstances are not what we would like them to be, at those times when we are asking the Lord “Why,” when our main thoughts should revolve around that verse, because in some way what is happening to us at that moment is meant for good. But, can you go so far as to say that “good” is for the glory of God, and those circumstances that are affecting you are inconsequential, that they do not matter, as long as the Almighty is glorified in them? Few can or will these days I fear.
You can if Philippians 1:21 is the standard of your life, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” You can if you are living the truth of Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” You can if Philippians 4:11 is a daily, normal part of your walk with Him, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
“Wherever you want me to go, whatever you want me to do, I will do, I will follow, no matter what you bring into my life.”
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
Here is the point where I could begin to expound upon the influence of Satan in the lives of some believers, of those who would like to lay the blame at his feet for all those adverse conditions, as I have named them here in this short video to you, but I ask you this, who sent that evil spirit upon King Saul?
Whether God allows or sends upon us those instances that we would just as soon not receive is immaterial to the context, it is God that decides. And so, we must say with Job in the full assurance of those words, “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10)
If you have been crucified with Christ, then your life is His to do with as He pleases, and our response no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in is to be “Thy will be done.”
