cardero said:
I know that both of these persons do not work specifically for one human but they both are supposed to share a direct influence in our lives.
GOD-This BEing is supposed to stand for Love and Truth for mankind. Do you feel that this BEing expresses an active interest in our lives?
SATAN-This BEing is a liar and a slanderer with the ability to turn people away from GOD and His teachings. Do you feel that this BEing is doing a sufficient job or could Satan do better?
Both are doing their jobs nicely. It seems to me that they are both rather sublte, and it is the most effective way to work.
From the Christian POV, we need faith to relate to God, who is divine. If God were not subtle in His work, we would not need to have faith. As it is, God is everywhere present yet unattainable, so those who believe in God must trust in Her Goodness by faith alone. It is by faith that we interpret events and even "answered" prayers as acts of God.
On the other hand, if we actually knew how evil Satan is, then none of us would fall for anything that Satan plans. In other words, if we could identify evil, no sane person would willingly instigate their own destruction.
I'll give you an example from my life this week...
I am a PhD student in New Testament at a University. Last Tuesday a theif broke into my truck and stole $3000 worth of University library books. I was devestated because I have no money to replace the University's books, not to mention several of my own books were taken. The police officer asked me how this would affect my studies, and I told him that most likely I would have to sit out for a few semesters to pay the fines, and I would lose my full scholarship and most likely would have to drop out of school completely.
The police officer said that since we live in such a large city that it would be a miracle if they found the books. He said that he was a Christian and asked if he could pray with me. I said sure, knowing that I did not have enough faith - all I could see was how bad it was for me.
The next day a businessman called the University saying that he had found the books. The books had been tossed over a fence. They had not been damaged at all... On top of everything, I had a huge paper due that week, and I was able to finish.
It is by faith that we believe that God answered the prayer of the police officer. We can easily explain it as a coincidence. God didn't put on his superman cape, say "Here I am. I'm God, I'll find those books!" We prayed, and we believe by faith that God did his work.
