My sweet wife asked me last night if I thought her May 29 stroke and all the ramifications therein was / had manifested itself as punishment from God. She went on to say that she'd been self-examining over the course of the day, trying to determine what she might have done to deserve being stricken as she was / is.
We know from God's Word that planet Earth is under the jurisdiction of Satan. He's the ruler here, therefore our culture / society, in particular, greatly reflects his influence, and of course too, we're fallen beings and our physical bodies reflect that as such.
The Bible speaks of Satan being thrown from heaven (to Earth) with his army of rebellious angels after attempting a coup. It also describes him as the most beautiful of all the angels prior to his removal. He was an "Angel of Light" prior to his punishment from God.
Satan shows up in Genesis (the first book of the Bible) early on, appearing as a serpent in the Garden of Eden, and from there relative to that very first deception, he influences mankind's future on a tremendous scale.
Yet, the Bible makes it clear that God's relationship to Satan is one of master. To use Dr. John Piper's analogy, Satan is essentially on God's leash. This insight we can discern for ourselves from the book of Job which paints a clear picture of God's present relationship with Satan. If you haven't read it at all or in a long while, I'd urge you to return to that book.
Big time loss seems to be the obvious tool of assault that Satan uses on Job, but it soon becomes apparent that it's those loved ones around Job (post personal calamity) who are moreso his toolset than anything else.
No doubt Earthly prosperity - of any ilk - is virally identifiable on a personal level. Now, we do see Job's heart as wholeheartedly loyal to God, but still, he (nor his wife / "friends") cannot deny what's been lost (family, possessions, health) overnight because it was once intact and interwoven into his (& their) existence on Earth.
As such, those influencers cannot help but point to the now contrast and subsequently have an opportunity to comment on it. And not at all for the better.
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Growing up with homosexual desires, particularly as a teenager, I found to be really strange, and mainly this was centered around my knowing that my peers weren't experiencing any of these bizarre attractions as I was. Yet, were it not for these unusual sexual desires, I'd likely not have been in touch with my depravity to the degree that I was as a 13 year-old. Therefore, sans that understanding, what heartfelt value would the gospel have had to me? Likely very little.
To take that a step further, it was somehow possible for me to see my homosexual desires were a manifestation of a deep seated inner brokenness that was tied to my very insecure sense of masculinity. Perhaps my parents' willingness to never single out my effeminate persona laid the groundwork there for me to begin to grasp this. I don't know.
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Prior to her stroke, Angie really, really, really struggled with isolating shame surrounding her anxiety. And that shame cycle for her was tied to any and all facets of her (seemingly at the time good) health. Now, the anxiety itself she had in check, but the shame tied to it, like so often is the case with shame, was simply too much for her to handle.
Over the past four months, she's started to recognize just how effectively in bondage she'd been to this.
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When I disclosed to Angie about my homosexual desires (very soon after disclosing to my parents), we had fallen in love and were no doubt a serious dating couple. She was the third person on planet Earth that I told. We were both in our early-20s at the time (Angie turns 50 next weekend). And I wasn't ashamed in the least. But that was all thanks to how my Christian parents had not overreacted firstly.
To circle back to my sweet wife, her parents manifested the opposite end of the reactionary spectrum - relative to almost everything she disclosed / faced whilst growing up. Hence, Angie learned early on to keep her mouth shut about any and everything in order to protect herself. Considering all of that, their negative / overbearing / nonsensical influence is only beginning to be emotionally exorcised from her post-stroke, and my hope, going forward, is to always be on the positive (helpful) side of that process.
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Satan, being the great influencer that he is, is not God. He only knows what we too know through Scripture in terms of God's intent / promises coupled with what he's discerned as an immortal being who at one point in history resided within God's presence in heaven. Regarding the latter (immortality), he's definitely been around the block, if you know where I'm coming from.
Therefore, in my opinion, one of his most precise offensive tactics is to attempt to set us up to be vastly emotionally compromised via others' reactions to us - whether as children, young adults, or otherwise, or in some cases unfortunately, through us. So how does he do this? I think it's mainly via blind ignorance.
Think back on Satan's deceiving of Eve in the Garden of Eden. She wasn't alone whilst dialoguing with the serpent. Aloof Adam was right there with her, and he said not a word before she handed him the same piece of fruit to eat from. I imagine Adam not understanding his own ineptness within that critical situation until it was far too late.
There's no doubt that it's downright fun at times kicking someone while they're down through our collectively compromised ideals (finger pointing). I know this firsthand just as you do. As such, Adam too was likely instantly enlightened to this just as soon as he witnessed Eve chomp down on that forbidden fruit.
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In closing, we may very well be most at risk via Satan's influence by none other than the reactions of those around us (& vice versa).
So, knowing that, how did I answer Angie's question last night?
With great care (which unfortunately isn't always the case depending on my mood).
Thanks be to God for giving me the wisdom to (mostly) have learned - today - to answer my sweet wife's hard questions carefully. (It's taken a long while).
I cannot tell you the number of times I've not fared so well relative to my reaction to whomever - friend, child, spouse, etc., and I have the bullet wounds to prove it.
May God temper my heart to see far above personal circumstance, all the while being keenly aware of my being susceptible to both repose or knee jerk (or anything in between) reactions that may not serve anyone well except "The Prince of the Power of the Air" himself.
Armor me Lord Jesus from Satan's influence over my influence as well as the influence of those around me.
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