Why Does God Allow This?

No one needs to be told that there are many, many strange, even bizarre things going on in our world today. The traditional moral and spiritual values which most people have held dear for generations have been eroded and attacked as outmoded and irrelevant. Even with religious communities and institutions there appears to be a wave of compromise and apostasy. Although there may be numerous causes, certainly we may not dismiss the reality that the Devil and his demons are still “walking about like a roaring lion, seeking whom they may devour” (I Peter 5:8).

Quite often, we read the accounts in Scripture where Jesus encountered demons attacking and influencing human beings. Thank God for our Lord having compassion on those people and casting the demons out. However, not all were freed, and such attacks continue in our day as well.

So, the question must be raised, “Why does God allow these evil creatures to attack His people? Why doesn’t God shield us from temptation, protect us from demonically induced illness, and keep the devil out of our lives?”

St. Maximos the Confessor (7^th century) gives us some answers to these questions. There are, he says, five reasons why God allows us to be assailed by demons:

1) that we should learn to discriminate between virtue and vice.

2) that, having acquired virtue through conflict and toil, we should keep it (virtue) secure and immutable.

3) that making progress in virtue, we should not become haughty but learn humility.

4) that, having gained some experience of evil, we should hate it with a perfect hatred.

5) (most important) that, having achieved dispassion (self-control), we should forget neither our own weakness nor the power of Him who has helped us.

Since God has created mankind with free will, He does not violate our wills nor coerce us to do His will. Therefore, let us be mindful of our part in resisting the evil one. By the grace of God, we can resist the devil and clothe ourselves with the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-17).

Grant this, O Lord!

Fr. Andrew