Many people have the wrong assumption that if God is King of heaven, then Satan must be the lord of hell. They think that he's sort of "equal" to God, which means there has to be an equal balance between light and darkness, between good and evil.

That's just so wrong.

The Bible tells us that God is Lord of all, and that the demons are subject to Him (see James 2:19). Satan himself knows that he cannot overpower God, and all that he can do is deceive people into thinking that he is on a par with our God (see Isaiah 14:12-15).

Well, Colossians 2:15 tells us that Christ has "disarmed principalities and powers [and] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them [on the cross]." As far as Christ is concerned, the devil is defeated already, and is only waiting for the time of his judgment (see 2 Peter 2:4; Matthew 25:41).

Sadly, many people, Christians included, still believe the devil's lies.

What does that have to do with anything?

Perhaps by now you're asking why I talked about the truth regarding the devil's position. The truth is that if we are in Christ, the devil has no place with us and has no authority over us (see John 14:30; Luke 10:19).

This is evident in Jesus' words spoken to Peter in Luke 22:31:

"And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.""

From this short verse we understand that Satan cannot simply do as he pleases with God's people. Before he can do anything to us, he must first ask permission to do so. That's a fact.

An old example

We also see this in the life of Job. In Job 1:6-12 we see God and Satan talking. While God spoke well of Job, the devil had nothing but accusations against him. Later in that passage we read that Satan desired to test Job, but needed God's permission to do so:

"And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person."" (see Job 1:12)

Satan failed in his attempt to cause Job to hate God and blame him for his demise. And so, in Job 2 we read that once again God spoke well of Job, with Satan replying with accusations. God gave him permission to test Job once more.

What can we learn from this?

Friends, the devil cannot do anything to us unless God allows him to. This doesn't mean God is the one who wants to harm or hurt us. It means that the enemy simply cannot harm us unless God trusts that we can make it through the pain, and gives the enemy permission to do wrong to us - it's a sign of how much God trusts us to trust Him!

Let's take God's word for it:

""Behold, I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me," says the Lord." (Isaiah 54:16-17)

Now you might ask, why did He give the devil permission to "sift" Peter?

It's so that when he returns to Christ, he will be able to strengthen his brethren (see Luke 22:32).

And why does God allow the devil to harm us?

It's so that we can be conformed to the likeness of Christ (see Romans 8:28-29), and be made able to encourage others with how He loved, saved, and redeemed us (see 2 Corinthians 1:3-7).