“How can I tell if something is the will of God or from Satan?”
This is a deep one that can’t be answered in an exhaustive manner in a short blog. It touches on difficult subjects like the will of God, human suffering, and why God allows us to suffer. With this in mind, let me give you several things to think about…
1) If it is happening, then in some way, it is God’s will.
What I mean is that God is sovereign. He is in charge. Nothing can happen without him knowing about it and even allowing it. So even if something is from Satan, God is still in control. The most notable example of this is Job. Satan wanted to tempt and destroy Job, which he did quite well, but none of it happened without the permission of God.
This obviously brings up some massive questions, such as, “Why would God allow such awful suffering to happen to people?” This leads to the next thing to think about…
2) We live in a fallen world.
Let’s remember what life was like before Adam and Eve sinned. It was great! No suffering, no pain, no hard work. They lived in communion with God in a garden that was perfect. Things went very bad once they sinned and had to leave the garden. Let’s fast forward to the ending. In Revelation, when there is a new Heaven and new Earth, everything will be perfect again. All the pain and suffering will be gone.
Right now, we are in the “in-between”. Sin still has an impact on our world. That is why many bad things happen to seemingly good people. That is why there is suffering.
But isn’t God in control? Can’t he make things better? Yes and yes. He is in control, and things will get better. But right now he is waiting. Because if he returns at this moment, then many will lose the opportunity to put their faith in him. If he delays in returning, more people will have the opportunity to know him. Does that make it easier for us? No. So we must hold out hope that God will one day make things better.
3) Sometimes we won’t know the will of God.
The honest answer is that we won’t always know the will of God. Think about Joseph in the OT. He was in prison and worked as a slave for years and couldn’t see any point to things. It was only later that he understood what God was doing (Genesis 50:19-21). So you may not know for a long time (or ever on this earth) if something is the will of God or simply an attack from Satan.
That’s ok. Because God doesn’t tell us that we need to understand everything. He tells we need to hold onto him. We need to trust that he will one day reign supreme and make all things better. And we need to trust that even as we go through tough times, he will use them for our good (Romans 8:28).
4) The more you know God, the more you will know his will.
Having said all that, Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” What he is saying there is that the more you grow in your relationship with God and the more you get sin out of your life, the more you will understand the will of God.
So how can we tell if something is coming from God or Satan? Be in love with God. And the more you love him and know him, the more you will know his will.
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