Devin Schadt / March 16th, 2026

The Way of a Man Series | #129

2966 words

Stop Blaming the Devil: 5 Reasons God Allows Affliction

What this article is about:

Why Christians often blame the devil for their suffering and five spiritual reasons God allows affliction.

What You Will Find in This Article

• Why many Christians mistakenly blame the devil for their suffering

• How focusing on the devil can prevent spiritual maturity

• What St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, and the saints teach about suffering

• The five spiritual reasons God allows affliction in a person’s life

Does the Devil Cause Our Suffering?

When suffering strikes our lives, many Christians instinctively say, “The devil is doing this to me.”
Indeed, we are a demon-chasing world.
The modern Christian is infatuated with the diabolical, the nefarious.
A cursory look at YouTube videos that feature exorcists or spiritual warfare demonstrates our allurement with the evil one.

We believe, often, that the devil is the cause of all our afflictions.

Furthermore, when challenges or troubles arise, we blame and accuse him.

Therefore, by doing so, we live in a lie.
We fail to mature as sons of God, as men of God, as men of courage.

Consequently, we avoid the real truth about ourselves and God by saying, “the devil did this.”

Indeed, it is much easier for me to blame the enemy without rather than the enemy within.

How many times do we say or think things like, “The devil is against me”?
Or, “The evil one is hindering me from doing this ‘great’ thing.”

We assume that we are perfect, our goal and mission are perfect, and therefore it must be the evil one and his minions who are lodged against us.

Catholic tradition teaches that God does not cause evil but permits it in order to bring about a greater good.
According to Scripture and the teaching of the saints, God may allow affliction for several spiritual reasons: to correct us of past sins, to prevent future sins, to strengthen virtue, to purify our attachment to sin, or to manifest His glory.
In every case, suffering is never meaningless—God permits it as a means of forming His children into saints.

Too Focused on the Devil

Martin Luther, when situations went ill for him, often blamed the difficulties he encountered on the devil.
By accusing the devil, Martin successfully deflected all blame and all responsibility for his actions onto the devil.

Moreover, he refused to consider that the affliction could be divinely ordained and necessary for his soul.
Thus, he turned to worldly sedations to “mock the devil,” and by doing so, stunted the work of sanctification that God would have accomplished in him.

These are his own words:

Sometimes we must drink more, sport, recreate ourselves, aye, and even sin a little to spite the devil, so that we leave him [the devil] no place for troubling our consciences with trifles. We are conquered if we try too conscientiously not to sin at all. So, when the devil says to you, “Do not drink,” answer him, “I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to.” One must always do what Satan forbids. What other cause do you think that I have for drinking so much strong drink, talking so freely and making merry so often, except that I wish to mock and harass the devil who is wont to mock and harass me? Would that I could contrive some great sin to spite the devil, that he might understand that I would not even then acknowledge it and that I was conscious of no sin whatever. We, whom the devil thus seeks to annoy, should remove the whole Decalogue from our hearts and minds.

There it is.

The founder and father of Protestantism.

Good old Martin learned the art of spiritual warfare (I’m saying this facetiously):

Engage the devil (stupidity)
Believe your mind to be of greater intellect than the devil (pride)
Then do precisely what the devil does (sin big) as a means to show the devil who is boss (!?!)

Why?

Because by engaging him, he dupes us into doing his will rather than God’s will.

Never Engage with The Devil

Modern Christians are focusing so much on the devil that they are neglecting to look to God.
They blame the evil one for the tragedy in their life without ever considering that God may be using the affliction as a means to orchestrate a greater plan.
Indeed, they engage in conversation with the devil, thinking that by their prayers—and under the shield of prayer—they can overpower the diabolical enemy.

I believe that I am never to converse with the devil.
He consistently tempts me and lures me to engage in conversation with him.
If I do, it is only a matter of time before he sifts my mind like wheat.

He is by far the more powerful intellect.
The evil one has millennia of experience working over men’s minds.

I don’t say “no” to the devil.
I turn away from his voice and turn toward God and say, “Yes, Lord, what is Your Word?”

Why We Think the Devil Is Behind Our Afflictions

The logic goes like this:

God is not evil.
Consequently, God cannot create evil.
Hence, God cannot commit evil.
Therefore, God could not be against me.

The devil is evil.
Consequently, the devil distorts good into evil.
Hence, the devil commits evil.
Therefore, the devil is against me.

Let’s review.

God is not evil—True.

Consequently, God cannot create evil—True.

Hence, God cannot commit evil—True.

Therefore, God could not be against me—True.

The devil is evil—True.

Consequently, the devil distorts good into evil—True.

Hence, the devil commits evil—True.

Therefore, the devil is against me—True.

So where is the difficulty?

We forget that God permits evil and uses evil as a divine scalpel to remove our spiritual cancer from our souls.
By accusing and blaming the evil one for our afflictions, we neglect to consider that God may have either willed or permitted the evil that has come upon us.
Consequently, we neglect to “put on the mind of Christ.” (See 1 Cor 2:16)

We fail to consider that God may will the affliction in order that we may be saved, sanctified, and brought into trusting union with Him.
Hence, we are simply afraid to admit that God could be behind our sufferings.

Why?

Because if He is the orchestrator of the evils occurring in our lives, we will be gravely tempted to despise Him, mistrust Him, and surrender the fight for heaven.
This could be one reason why men lack courage.
They are unwilling to believe that they have a Divine Father who disciplines them.
Specifically, they want the sugar-daddy, Mr. Rogers, Santa-Claus divine dad.

Hence, they cast off their sonship.

As the author of Hebrews says:

“If you are without discipline, then you are a bastard.” (Heb 12:8)

When we avoid God the Father’s hand of discipline, we cast off our divine sonship.
Hence, we discard our identity as sons and fail to achieve our destiny as saints.

Are Afflictions From God’s Hand?

However, as Father Jean-Baptiste Saint-Jure, S.J., points out in his book Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, our Lord rebukes Peter:

“Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given to me?”

Indeed, our Lord, who is Truth Himself, is saying that the evil of the cross and His ignominious death were given to Him—not by the devil—but by God His Father.
This is the mind of Christ.

Upon hearing this, we may conclude that God is evil.
God cannot be trusted.
If He treats His only-begotten Son in this manner, what is to stop Him from making my life utterly miserable?

Why Does God Allow Suffering

We often assume that suffering comes primarily from the devil.
Yet Scripture and the saints teach something more profound.
According to Catholic tradition, God may allow as a means to form His children into saints.

St. Thomas Aquinas reassures us:

“God does not cause evil, but permits it, yet He would not permit it unless He intended some good from it.”

Similarly, St. Augustine states:

“God is so good that He would never permit any evil to occur unless He was so powerful as to draw some good from every evil.”

Furthermore, St. Thomas expounds:

“To understand why one person is punished on account of the sin of another, we must realize that a punishment has two aspects: it is an injury and a remedy… Sometimes a part of a body is cut off to save the entire body.”

Again:

“Therefore, God sometimes imposes physical punishments, or difficulties in external concerns, as a beneficial remedy for the soul. And then punishments of this kind are not given just as injuries, but as healing remedies.”

God does permit evil.
More precisely, God allows evil to assail us.

However, God always permits such afflictions to bring about a greater good.
Therefore, God is for you, and uses the devil, who is against you,

to punish you for former sins

to purify you of your attachment to sin

to prevent you from committing further sins

and to prepare you for His glory and greater works

God Sends Afflictions for Five Reasons

St. Gregory the Great says in I Morals that God sends afflictions in five ways.

Reason No. 1: Afflictions Can Be the Beginning of Damnation

“Sometimes afflictions are the beginning of damnation:
‘Strike them with double punishment.’ (Jer 17:18)”

St. Thomas says that a sinner is struck with punishment in this life so that, without interruption or end, he might be punished in the other life.
Hence, the “double punishment.”

Believe it or not, this should offer us hope.
“God wills that all men be saved.” (1 Tim 2:4)

However, God does not coerce or force us to surrender ourselves to Him.
Consequently, He afflicts us with suffering that we may awake from our sinful stupor.

The pains of hell afflict us—even while on earth—so that we may cry out to God and begin to desire heaven—so that, in our desire to avoid them, we call out to God and begin to desire heaven.

Furthermore, by God afflicting a man in this way, He instills within us, the bystanders who witness such punishment and awe, reverence and holy fear of God.

Our modern culture sorely needs this holy fear.
The contemporary culture’s lack of reverence and fear for God—who will judge every man according to his works (See Rom 2:6)—is the primary reason why we are so licentious, have a spirit of entitlement, are self-idolators, and are riddled with lust.

Nowadays, it is typical that women dress worse than prostitutes did in ages bygone.
Additionally, it is all too common that we commit sins of impurity, adultery, fornication, and lust while erroneously thinking that “God understands.”

Of course, God understands!

John says of Jesus, “He knew man well.” (see Jn 2:24)
Meaning that Jesus did not entrust Himself to men because He knew their superficiality, fickleness, and selfish desires.
Yet, God “understanding” our sinful behavior does not mean that He condones it.

Reason No. 2: Afflictions Correct Us of Past Wrongs

“Sometimes afflictions are sent as correction, as we read: ‘Your discipline will teach me.’” (Ps 17:36)

My grandma, after I would hurt myself, would say, “That smarts.”
As a child, I did not understand why it smarted.
This was her way of saying that pain teaches.

Pain teaches you not to repeat the same stupidity again.
Hence, the pain teaches you to become smarter.

I could write volumes of books that would describe my sins of pride, arrogance, greed, lust, and the long-term pain these vices inflicted upon me.
Those memories make me cringe.
That cringing is a grace from God.

It is communicating to me the deep inner truth regarding sin: though initially it offers pleasure, it also inflicts an enduring pain—an enduring shame and embarrassment.
Consequently, one of the chief reasons that God afflicts us is to correct us now so that we will not cringe for all eternity.

Reason No. 3: Afflictions Prevent Future Sins

“Sometimes a person is afflicted not to correct past ways, but to preserve him from future ones, as we read of Paul, ‘And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting in my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.’ (2 Cor 12:7)”

Notice that God may afflict us with sufferings for the purpose of making and keeping us humble.
Precisely, when God operates in a humble person, doing great things, the humble person who is afflicted by that thorn in the flesh knows that he is weak.
Therefore, he refrains from usurping God’s glory and spending it on himself.

I would like to pause here.

How many of us, in the pursuit of accomplishing great things, encounter obstacles and challenges and believe that those hindrances are the devil’s work?
When we naively believe that, because we are so great and important to God and His plan, the evil one is assailing us, we neglect to realize that God is attempting to make us humble.

We entrench ourselves in further pride.
When we neglect to understand that the thorn from Satan is permitted by God, we press forward in pride, believing that we are a most needed, most important, God-warrior.
Consequently, if we do not turn to God and understand that He is using this buffet in the flesh to humble us, we will, like Martin Luther, press on and do the very things that Satan wants us to do.

The devil will often allow us to do great things for God so long as we believe that we are doing those great things ourselves.
He devil rejoices in our pride.

Why?

Because “before the fall comes pride.” (Proverbs 16:18)

Hence, the evil one loves to raise holy people to great heights, convincing them that they are defeating him, only to suddenly turn the tables on their pride and humiliate them by luring them into a carnal sin that brings scandal to them, the Church, and God.

Reason No. 4: Afflictions Are Used to Keep Us From Committing Future Wrongs

“Sometimes [affliction] is done to encourage virtue: as when a person’s past sins are not being corrected, nor further ones hindered, but he is led to a stronger love by knowing the power of the one who unexpectedly delivered him from some difficulty: ‘Virtue is made perfect in infirmity’ (2 Cor 12:9); ‘Patience has a perfect work’ (Jas 1:4).”

This type of affliction enables the spiritual man to flex his spiritual muscles.

For example, St. Joseph discovers Mary pregnant without his cooperation.
The affliction that assailed him was not God’s way of correcting him of former sins or of protecting him from committing future ones.
Specifically, God afflicted St. Joseph that he might learn patience, trust in God, grow in perseverance, and ultimately become a power to be reckoned with.
Accordingly, God will often permit terrible, ongoing afflictions, inviting us to deeper trust in Him.

During such times, He summons us to pray more often, waiting on Him with trusting patience and persevering in sacrifice and service.
In fact, during such times of affliction, we are to pray and sacrifice more.
When we do, those spiritual muscles (the virtues) increase dramatically.
Hence, God entrusts us with greater graces, works, and endeavors because we have proved our fidelity to and trust in Him.

This is the way of a man.

Reason No. 5: Afflictions Manifest the Glory of God

“Finally, sometimes afflictions are sent to manifest divine glory.”

To illustrate, Jesus and His apostles encounter a man born blind. (See John 9:1–41)

The apostles ask Jesus, “Is his blindness because of his sins, or his parents’?”
To which Our Lord responds, “His blindness is not because of his sins or his parents’ sin, but in order to manifest God’s glory.”

This may be a hard pill to swallow.

Nevertheless, sometimes God allows us to suffer from a specific ailment for years with no end in sight.
However, His purpose and intent are to heal us of that ailment so that His glory may be manifest.

I knew a man who suffered from a form of ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease.
Consequently, he suffered from ongoing belly pain, dramatic weight loss, and rectal bleeding.
His condition plagued him for years.

One night, a friend of his called him in the middle of the night.
Upset, he told the friend to call back in the morning.

However, the friend insisted that he pray over him.
The man with colitis got out of bed, got dressed, and drove over to his house.
They both sat on the floor beside a little table, with a lit candle and the Bible.
The friend read a Bible passage that recounted one of Jesus’s miraculous healings and proceeded to pray over the man with colitis.

In the weeks following, the man’s pain disappeared.
The bleeding stopped.
Eventually, he consulted a doctor who, after scoping his colon, concluded, “Your colon looks as new as a baby’s—there are no more ulcerations.”

I remember sitting at a table when this man recounted his healing.
The man who prayed over him was there also.
All of us men marveled and glorified God.

We are never to give up hope in God.

Turning Away from the Devil and Toward God

Perhaps, when we are in the throes of painful affliction, rather than turning to the devil and thinking that we can outwit him, let us turn to God the Father, seeking His face and asking for understanding as to why He is permitting it.

St. Thomas tells us that God does not create anything without a purpose in mind.

Further, God, being good, always has a good purpose for that creature.
Consequently, He will use evil to bring about a greater good—in fact, the ultimate good: to assimilate us into the Eternal Good—God Himself.

Maybe the real problem is not with the devil or with God, but with us.

Perhaps we don’t want the good badly enough.

Specifically, we don’t believe that the pains of this life are worthy of the glory of the next.

Let us “know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to His purpose, are called to be saints.” (Rom 8:28)

Isn’t that the bottom line?

If we have manly courage, believing that the affliction is permitted by God and is specifically targeted to bring about our good, we will refuse to turn to the world and sedate ourselves to avoid the pain, but rather turn to God, who will, in the end, make us saints.