Do you ever find yourself frustrated with people and circumstances that seem to plague your life? Do you wonder why certain people come into your life? Sometimes we can become angry with difficult people in our lives and wonder why they behave the way they do. Does it seem that calamity and confusion seem to affect your life at the most inopportune times? In today’s society, it can appear that the cycle of life only consist of financial hardships, broken marriages, dysfunctional families, unexpected illnesses, global warming, and devastating natural disasters. Situations and people can be overwhelming in our lives and take our focus off the real enemy of this world. Sometimes we wonder if God really has the whole world in His hands. If so, why would He allow these things to happen? Well, God’s original intention for mankind was to live in a loving, holy relationship with Him. Because God is love, His relationship with man is based on love and obedience to Him (1 John 4:8). Man changed the relationship by allowing sin to govern His life. God is our heavenly Father and loves us unconditionally (Romans 5:8). We need to recognize the author of confusion and know our enemy. His name is Satan.

God warns us through His Word that the origin of worldly situations and worldly people is spiritual wickedness (Ephesians 6:12). Satan is the father of lies and deception. Satan’s main objective is to kill, steal, and destroy man (John 10:10). He knows that God loves us; therefore, His real battle is with God. Our heavenly Father is all-powerful and has control over Satan. God will allow calamity in our lives to grow us spiritually, to lead others to Christ, and it is all for His glory. Satan wants us to become weary in our faith. He wants us to be unfaithful to God through our speech, attitudes, and lifestyles. Satan orchestrates confusion in our lives to take our focus off the wisdom of our heavenly Father; and encourage us to trust our own worldly knowledge. Satan wants us to be overwhelmed by the world’s system and lose our hope in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Satan knows His ultimate demise and plans to take as many people as He can with Him to the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). His plan is to be exalted above God and have His own worshippers. When we live a life according to our fleshly desires and worldly circumstances, we are allowing Satan to be the lord in our lives. A believer should never allow the world to see God as the “enemy” in our lives. This is the type of thinking that is great “breeding ground” for Satan’s plans. We need to know our enemy and recognize the “true” author of confusion and mayhem in this world. Because of God’s love for us, He sent His only begotten Son as the Savior of a sinful world and the destroyer of Satan’s control in our lives (John 3:16). All we have to do is accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and live a life that is glorifying to God.