Are there activities of Satan going on in the world that God is powerless to stop?

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Question: Are there activities of Satan going on in the world, that God is powerless to stop?

Youth Question

ATP: Absolutely not. If God were powerless to stop Satan, he wouldn’t be God. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…” (Mt. 28:18) He either has all authority, or he doesn’t. And it is clear from the Bible that he does.

When bad things happen to people some tend to believe that Satan is always responsible. But that is not a good assumption and I think that it is an assumption that gives Satan far too much "credit."

When I was playing high school football I got blind-sided covering a punt. The impact to my leg tore the anterior cruciate ligament in my left knee. My knee was a mess and required surgery. Unfortunately the surgeon, a General Practitioner who was our family physician, mis-diagnosed my knee injury and needlessly removed the meniscus from that knee.

In addition when he did the surgery he snapped off the tip of a needle while sewing me up,left it in my knee by the incision area and didn't tell me! I didn't fully know why for 29 years I felt like I was being stabbed every time I bumped my knee, but believe me that's just what it felt like! Finally a few years back, I received a correct diagnosis and had the knee reconstructed and the needle removed.

Question: Was my leg injured because of Satan? Did the Devil cause the doctor's misdiagnosis and the needle tip to be left in my knee? No, not at all. I was injured because I got clipped playing football! It’s that simple. And the misdiagnosis of my injury and the needle tip left in my leg happened because an otherwise good physician simply had a bad couple of days.

End of story.

Some bad things happen in life just because bad things happen, not because Satan is pulling the strings. And even when Satan is involved, God has the complete ability to stop him.

Why doesn't God stop Satan at every turn? We don't know. What we do know is that He will one day, completely and permanently.

For now however, for reasons far beyond our feeble ability to understand, God allows certain things to happen that one day he will not. We wish the day of his permanent and perfect intervention were today. Until that day, however, we exercise faith and trust, knowing that God is perfect and can do no wrong. One day we will understand all the "whys."