Suffering Caused By Satan

The final cause of suffering, that I want to discuss, is Satan. Satan was an angel of God. He was created perfect and sinless. However, like Adam, he disobeyed God. Now he hates God. He seeks to destroy God's creation.

Satan was the one who caused the suffering of Job. We can be sure that he is still active in this world bringing pain and misery to all that he can. God has given Satan a great amount of freedom at present. Satan uses his freedom to wreck all the havoc that he can. The Apostle Peter wrote, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.'' (1 Peter 5:8)

Satan is powerful, wise and deceitful. He offers us what looks good but is designed to hurt us. The Apostle Paul warns us, "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.'' (2 Corinthians 11:14b)

The devil wants to destroy every person because God loves us. We will not know in this life how much misery has been caused by him.

Suffering From God

Some suffering is caused by the judgment of God. The Bible gives us many examples of those whom God judged for their rebellion against Him.

The Egyptian Pharaoh refused to let the Israelite people go free from slavery. The nation of Egypt suffered ten terrible plagues from God.

The people of Israel refused to enter the promised land and they all died in the wilderness. Their children inherited the land.

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their homosexual practices. In the New Testament, Ananias and Sapphira died because they lied to the Apostles.

God does punish those who go too far in their sin. However, God always warns before He punishes. When a person is suffering God's judgment, they will know it. Direct punishment from God is a rare thing. We should be careful before we say that God is the direct cause of any suffering.