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ya know this brings up a good topic for discussion, because everybody knows when something bad happens it's "because of the devil". That's all you hear people say. But don't those exact same people also say, God knows what's going to happen to you before it ever does, thus, does it mean God planned for the bad things to happen in your life, or is it actually the devil?

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God allows things to happen for His reasons. It may be as a test, as chastisement, as an object lesson, etc. He also deliberately brings trouble your way, sometimes as a test, as chastisement, as an object lesson, etc. You can see examples of that in the lives of Joseph, David, Jonah, Samson, etc... To know for sure that you are not going to be excluded from this, read the book of Job. Job was a man who God declared to Satan was like no one else on earth. Satan insisted that Job loved God only because God hedged him about and protected him, and that if real trouble came his way, he would curse God. God then gave Satan permission to have his way with Job, only he could not touch his soul, as that belonged to God. If Job and David, both men who were said to be "after God's own heart", were subjected to sorrow, pain, and absolute horror, should we expect to be exempt?? I tell you, if you haven't known trouble, you will. If you haven't known sorrow, you will. If you haven't known horrors, you will.
We are told by Jesus that God holds us in the hollow of His hand and no one can snatch us out of His hand. He is speaking of believers whose souls Satan can't touch, but whose lives Satan can and will make miserable at every opportunity, either directly or indirectly. He has his job to do, you know. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]