the temptation to laugh

Have you ever had so many flaky bad stuff happen to you in one month that you just want to both cry and laugh?

I had forgotten how much the devil hates humans. All those movies where Satan is shown as either the symbol of freedom (against boring restrictive God) or as jealous of humans (because God loves us so much) cannot begin to understand the choreography of demonic evil in human and cultural life.

Yeah, yeah, I'm sounding all medieval here. Making everything out to be all about the demonic etc....but honestly, there are so many weird things that happen in some folks lives that one can only think there is some spiritual assignment against them.

I have a friend whose husband has been dying the past four years. I won't tell her name but some of you know who she is. This is in addition to the other stuff happening in her family. The poor woman's hubby is in so much pain that he gets down-right suicidal and she has to be on the alert all the time that he doesn't take pills or stab himself or kill himself when she isn't looking at him. Okay, I believe that sometimes we open the door/hedge for bad things to happen to us: bad diet, bad speaking, family curses, etc. But sometimes....well, there are demonic snares afoot.

The weird thing though is that when stuff gets really bad in my life I cry and when it gets really bad I start laughing...because I had forgotten God's people had been so hated by those who hate those who love God. And when things get so bad I wish I were dead I just get up and sing because singing praises to God fights the spiritual enemies. But as I get those pray-for-us emails from my friend....well I just can't laugh. I can't praise. I just have to pray. What a sad life the earthly life can be!