From Where I Stand: When Children Die

I believe in the existence of the devil every bit as much as I believe in God. I believe in the ultimate goodness of God and the malevolent intent of his – and our – adversary in this world. In the last two weeks, I have become witness again of the tempter’s pernicious attacks upon humanity, manipulating the forces of chance and wickedness at his disposal to cause harm and tragedy and to foster doubts, if possible, in the minds of Christians. The deaths of two teenagers with connections to my tiny West Virginia hometown serve to remind me again that the devil is at work – directly and indirectly – as he struggles to destroy the faith of the faithful and provoke unwarranted criticism of the redeemer. Satan is a thug who commits the crime and then manipulates the witnesses to blame the innocent, the heroic, the savior, instead of him. This time, however, he must suffer yet another disappointment, for we are not ignorant of his designs (Second Corinthians 2:11). It is he who ushered sin, temptation, curse, and death into a world which God created perfectly and which he has offered to redeem ever since. Our faith in God does not waver because his adversary strikes us where we are most vulnerable. We see through him and cling to the Lord.