Day 23

“We know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”

—1 JOHN 5:19

Sometimes we hear people talk about God controlling everything that happens, and then at the same time, praying that things will change! Is the will of God being done in our world? Scripture tells us it is not. In fact, it tells us: “the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” Scripture declares that ‘the whole world is a prisoner of sin’ (Galatians 3:22), and the devil is ‘prince of this world’ (see John 14:30). Turn on the news and whose fingerprints do you find over the latest atrocities? Does it sound like God, or Satan?

God is ultimately sovereign in the universe and in His own marvellous way works evil to good ends. But it is still evil! It is true that, “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), but it is not true that God reverses that and ‘masquerades as an angel of darkness’, so that the apparent evil we see around the world is really God working out His purposes! That would be an assault on the moral character and holiness of God.

Satan is active in our world, and we can be active in sin too, but ultimately we are accountable to God. His sovereignty will be expressed in His judgment on that day when all of history will bow at His feet. In the meantime, in our fallen world, with its fallen behavior and damaging evil, we can bring our lives into relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and in the world of darkness, become as light. As Paul wrote, “that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:15-16). It is by the stars on the darkest of nights that in the ancient world lost people found their way home. We have that privilege as lights, in our dark, dark world.

PRAYER: Dear Father in Heaven, Thank You for making me a child of yours and I pray that your Spirit in me will be a light to guide others home to You.

TO REFLECT UPON: How would I respond to those who ask, “Why is there so much evil in this world?”