GOD: Lucifer, what are you doing here? I thought you spent your free time in New Jersey.
Satan: Ah, yes, but today I thought I would come visit you and some of your people here in Idaho. They claim it as "God's country", so I thought I'd see why. And I must grudgingly admit that part of this region are indeed very - rrrr - attractive.
GOD: Indeed. There are many Godly individuals in this state too. For example, do you see that man over there?
Satan: Him? He's barely even a Christian! Why point him out when You have so many less sin-filled examples, even in this relatively barren territory?
GOD: Oh, no particular reason, Lucifer. I just do so because it amuses Me how a person like this Smith can do good for those around him without actually being adept in My Word. You will have a hard time to succeed when I remove all of My Saved, if people like Smith are left behind to battle you!
Satan: Is that so? Permission to prove you wrong, as I once proved with regard to Job!
GOD: Your memory of the outcome of Job's tale is faulty, Lucifer...but, sure, I'll let you take your shot at him.
And so, I was afflicted with a rare disease, called Tubular Aggregate Myopathy. If Satan was looking for the perfect disease to give me, he found one that meshed exactly wrong with my personality: rather than go-go-go, I had to stop-stop-stop. I couldn't recover from marching season, and by 2012 (a year and a half into my marriage to my childhood sweetheart) I had to quit teaching band altogether.
GOD: I see you've been working on My child Smith, Lucifer.
Satan: Ah, ah, ah, Lord! You cannot call him "Your child", remember? He hasn't been saved! That was the whole point of
GOD: Ah, ah, ah, Lucifer! You have not been paying close enough attention. You didn't notice what bringing his high school sweetheart back to him did, did you?
Satan: Well, it was supposed to give him a reason to be distracted from working with the students he was helping survive school... Having the one woman he loved back in his life plus taking away band from his plate should have
GOD: What it should or shouldn't have done is immaterial. What it did was bring a Christian influence into his life, and with the free time he now has now that he's no longer writing marching shows and concert music, he managed to slow himself down enough to hear My Voice and accept Jesus as his Savior. Thank you, Lucifer. You have brought Smith into My flock at last.
Satan: (unrepeatable in a Christian blog setting)
Perhaps this isn't how it went down. I've actually assumed it was God's idea that I should get a condition that slowed me down enough to hear the Holy Spirit at last. Perhaps it went something like this, and in revenge Satan decided to take Melissa away from me. (Which meant that Dana came into my life, and with my help the Holy Spirit brought her to the Lord this last fall. You can't win, Satan - you can't win!)
Or perhaps it just means that the devil's going to be in your face whenever you're doing God's Work. Because Satan's primary purpose on earth right now is to interfere with God's warriors in any way he can. That should be you and me, if we're doing what we should be doing.
So, let me ask you this question.
Is your life going too perfectly right now?
That's a bad sigh, man.
If you're a Christian, that means the devil doesn't fear you at all.
Get back to Work! Get back to God's Work!
Share the gospel! Tell people about Jesus, about His death on the cross and (more importantly) His resurrection and ascension. LIVE your life like you're carrying the Holy Spirit with you wherever you go, guiding your life, so that those without the Lord might be led to ask you what it is that gives you such joy and comfort in your life. And more than anything else, read your Bible, and pray to God regularly so that you learn and know God's will in your life.
The end is coming soon, my friends. Our time to save our family and friends is running short.
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