It's The Devil's Fault
Not long ago I ran across an article in a fairly prominent Christian magazine. A “prophetic healing evangelist” claimed to have healed two children of the “demon spirit” of autism. I make no judgment about the writer’s motivations or sincerity. Still, my blood boiled. Written by Kevin O’Brien
While some of us are tempted to ask why God allows our children to be born with special needs (see last month’s article), some of us have the opposite reaction. For them, the very idea of “blaming” God seems entirely out of bounds, yet the wound remains. The pain must be dealt with. And so, we blame the devil or demons.
Not long ago I ran across an article in a fairly prominent Christian magazine. A “prophetic healing evangelist” claimed to have healed two children of the “demon spirit” of autism. I make no judgment about the writer’s motivations or sincerity. Still, my blood boiled. Quoting Luke 17:19 where Jesus tells a man that his faith has made him well, this person claimed that as the mothers released their faith completely the full manifestation of the healings could be completed .
Let me be clear, I believe God heals. The New Testament, especially the Gospels, make it clear that demonic forces are real and do indeed inflict harm on the world. We should recall, however, that in the book of Job it is clear that the devil cannot simply do whatever he wants whenever he wants.
There are, however, real problems with this healer’s line of thinking.
In the story being quoted (Luke 17:11-19), Jesus heals 10 men with leprosy. Only one, a Samaritan, returns to thank Jesus. Samaritans were looked down on by the Jews of Jesus’ day because they were seen as half breeds who did not worship God correctly. When Jesus says that this man’s faith healed him, it is first about who he has faith in–namely Jesus–which would have been totally unexpected for a Samaritan.
Second his faith is clearly contrasted with the other lepers who are Jewish and therefore have right belief and worship (in theory anyway). Yes, our faith is important because Jesus works in and through it, however, it is not about how much we have. It is about what God does with it (remember too that the others were still healed). Just prior to this Jesus told the apostles all they needed was faith the size of a mustard seed (v.6)!
What does this have to do with the possibility of demonic influence in autism?
A few things. First, not all of Jesus’ healings were directly related to demons. We should not ever go down a path that says, “if it is bad it is therefore demonic.” This is simply not biblical belief and frankly gives the devil far more credit than he deserves. Sometimes a disease is a disease. Second, there is simply no indication from Jesus’ ministry that the size of our faith has any impact on removing demons and none where deliverance was in any way something that happened over time. When Jesus healed, he healed.
On the surface, one exorcism seems to indicate that it is our faith that is needed for healing, but closer inspection shows that this is not true. In Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29 and Luke 9:37-49, Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy whose symptoms sound a lot like epileptic grand mal seizures. The boy’s father went to the disciples first, but they could not heal him. Then he goes to the source, Jesus himself. In Matthew’s account, when the disciples ask why they could not heal the boy (v.19), Jesus tells them it is because they did not have enough faith (vv.20-21), NOT the father!
Mark’s account seems to pose a problem. The father is understandably doubtful when he takes the boy to Jesus (after all the disciples just failed). He asks Jesus “if” he can do anything (v.22). Jesus replies “’if you can?’ Everything is possible for one who believes.” (v.23) Isn’t this proof that my faith as a father has a direct impact on my son’s healing? Not so fast (v.24):
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
What parent of a child whom they want to see healed doesn’t understand this plea?
The man has faith to a point. He wants to believe, but his faith can only take him so far. And Jesus knows this. Because he heals the boy anyway.
The devil is real. Demons are real. But they are not responsible for everything, certainly not every disease. It is spiritual malpractice to tell a parent that their child is suffering from demonic attack because they have a disease like autism. As we have seen over the past several articles, often we do not know why suffering happens. We do know that God is bigger than the cause of our suffering in any case. The world is a broken place. The question for us is not how big our faith is, but whom are we putting it in. Jesus has proven he is far more powerful than the devil.
Written by Kevin O’Brien
Kevin O’Brien is a husband, father, ordained minister, writer and volunteer theologian. He holds a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary where he won the Th.M. award in 1997. He has also done graduate work at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Kevin worked as a brand manager on the Bible team at Tyndale House Publishers. During his time at Tyndale he has helped to develop several Bibles and has written articles which have appeared in The Way, the iShine Bible, and the Illustrated Study Bible. He also wrote a series of devotionals for WAYFM’s World’s Biggest Small Group.
Kevin lives in the far western suburbs of Chicago with his wife, three children, a dog, and a cat. He would prefer to spend his time reading, writing, woodworking and watching the Chicago Blackhawks.
Why are you doing this God?
The cry of the person in the midst of crisis. The demand of a parent with a special needs child: Why did this happen to my child? Why did this happen to us? To Me?
Written by Kevin O’Brien
Why is this happening God?
The cry of the person in the midst of crisis. The demand of a parent with a special needs child: Why did this happen to my child? Why did this happen to us? To Me?
Often, perhaps too often, we are afraid we know the answer. Last month we looked at the possibility that it was our fault. In John 9 Jesus heals a man who was blind from birth. The disciples ask Jesus whose fault it was.
Jesus responds that it was no one’s fault, it was for God’s glory.
So if it’s not our fault, why would God allow this to happen? Why would God cause this to happen? Because one or the other seems to be the implication. It doesn’t really matter if you lean more in the direction of God making the suffering happen or allowing the suffering to happen, the end result is the same. Suffering is here and you are in the middle of it.
We are not alone in asking this question. The writers of the Psalms, especially David, ask why God would allow suffering. Job asks God straight out:
If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?
Have I become a burden to you?
Job 7:20, NIV
Lots of people offer us reasons why God might allow or even cause something so painful. All too often the reasons are more than a bit like those of Job’s friends. They sound pious, they may even contain some truth, but they make a very significant mistake. They claim to have certain knowledge of the mind of God when it comes to the very specific situation we face. Knowledge they simply can’t have.
God never answers Job’s question. He doesn’t explain. The closest Job gets to an answer is in chapters 38-40. There God demands to know if Job really has the standing to question him. God asks Job, “Do you really want to correct me? (40:2); is your sense of justice really greater than mine (40:8); do you have the power that I have, the power to save? (40:9-12); do you know the secrets of the universe (Ch. 38-39).
The bible is full of people crying out to God in their suffering. We see it in the Psalms. There is an entire book called “Lamentations”. The issue is not grief. It is not asking why. Job is not condemned for asking why. God challenges him for questioning his character.
The implication is clear: Job, you don’t have enough information to make the kind of judgment you are making. You don’t have the perspective you need to say that I have mistreated you. Because that is really what we are saying when we blame God for whatever is happening. God, this is your fault and I don’t deserve it. You are mistreating me.
Why is not the problem. It is a perfectly good and legitimate question. We need to ask why. the problem is that we cannot live there. In the midst of our suffering we are tempted to.
God generally doesn’t give us the answer to our whys. He doesn’t tell us the reason for suffering, instead the Bible tells us (repeatedly) to expect it. So the question we really need to be asking ourselves is “can I trust God even when I don’t understand?” If we really believe the God is who He says He is in the Bible, then as hard as it is in the moment, we know the answer is yes. From Genesis to Revelation God is the God of good things, the God who creates a good universe (Genesis 1), the God who is light not darkness (1 Jn 1:5), who comes to save His people over and over again, especially and finally in Jesus, the God who will one day set all things to right (revelation 21-22).
This does not make the road easy. It does not erase the suffering. But it does offer hope.
The hope that while we do not always understand or even see the way forward, we can trust that God has our best in mind and as the apostle Paul says to the church in Philippi:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Rom. 8:35,37 NIV
Written by Kevin O’Brien
Kevin O’Brien is a husband, father, ordained minister, writer and volunteer theologian. He holds a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary where he won the Th.M. award in 1997. He has also done graduate work at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Kevin worked as a brand manager on the Bible team at Tyndale House Publishers. During his time at Tyndale he has helped to develop several Bibles and has written articles which have appeared in The Way, the iShine Bible, and the Illustrated Study Bible. He also wrote a series of devotionals for WAYFM’s World’s Biggest Small Group.
Most recently, Kevin wrote an Advent devotional eBook. You can find it here.
Kevin lives in the far western suburbs of Chicago with his wife, three children, a dog, and a cat. He would prefer to spend his time reading, writing, woodworking and watching the Chicago Blackhawks.
Seeking Solace In The Pain
Over the coming months, I want to look at how we, as parents of children with special needs, tend to respond to the reality that we face on a daily basis. We do not suffer in the way that our children do. But we do far more than simply see these things happen to our children. We “suffer with” in a very real sense. The heartache is real, the concern is real. The pain is real. Written by Kevin O’Brien
Job tells the story of a man whose entire life was taken from him in a single day: his property and livestock stolen or destroyed, his servants and children killed.
Seven sons.
Five daughters.
7,000 sheep.
3,000 camels.
500 yoke of oxen.
500 donkeys.
“a large number of servants.”
“This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1 NIV) yet he was struck with the starkest of pains. Natural disaster and human evil together devastate Job’s life. Like us, Job cries out to God in despair. Job chapters 3 and 6 show the depths of that despair: he wishes that he had never been born, that God would grant him the release of death. He cannot eat, he cannot rest, he is completely undone.
If only my anguish could be weighed
and all my misery be placed on the scales!
It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas
Job 6:2-3a
As a parent of an autistic child, Job’s words feel familiar, I have felt the same sting. Of course, he suffered far more than I, his calamity is far greater than mine, but in his anguish I dare to call him brother.
The problem with the book of Job is that it doesn’t do the one thing that you want it to do. It doesn’t tell us why pain and suffering exist. We all ask why. We all want to know the reason for our suffering, that it somehow matters. We want it justified. And as a rule, we don’t get an answer to this question. The book of Job in particular and the Bible as a whole do not set out to give systematic reasons for evil and suffering. There are pointers to be sure, but more so there is an assumption that suffering is a part of the world we live in. The bigger questions then, are how does God relate to us in this suffering, and what is He doing about it. The question for us is how should we respond?
All too often we buy into the modern, western notions that everything should work out for the best in every situation and if it doesn’t then there has got to be an answer. We have to find some explanation, something or someone to blame.
Barring that, we may deny the reality of the suffering altogether because it seems to somehow contradict what we believe about God and the nature of his interaction with the world. Are we afraid of what will happen if the truth gets out? Are we afraid of what will happen to us, to our belief, our world if we don’t have nice neat answers? Sometimes I think so.
Over the coming months, I want to look at how we, as parents of children with special needs, tend to respond to the reality that we face on a daily basis. We do not suffer in the way that our children do. We do not experience the often overwhelming and pervasive issues of being misunderstood, of not being able to cope with things that others take for granted, of not being able to communicate or see the world in the ways that “everyone else” does. But we do far more than simply see these things happen to our children. We “suffer with” in a very real sense. The heartache is real, the concern is real. The pain is real.
I have found that there are basically four responses we parents of special needs kids have when confronted with the often stark, in your face reality of the suffering of our children and yes, our own suffering. Perhaps one, perhaps all of them reflect your experience:
Whose fault is this?
Why would God allow this to happen/why would God do this?
It is all the devil’s fault.
Fault? There is no fault, how dare you suggest that?
All four responses are entirely understandable, but none of them, I find, truly address the reality that we, and our children, face. I believe there is a better response. Harder, but better. It is realizing that God is a God who suffers with us.
So if any of these four responses feel familiar (or if all of them do) I invite you to take a journey with me to explore how we might better respond to the suffering we face.
Written by Kevin O’Brien
