The Prankster Is Pranked
by David Chang, Director of Ministry Support
Watch out, today is April Fool’s––a day when we play pranks on one another. I confess, I was a bad boy growing up. My pranks included injecting wasabi paste into a donut. This worked particularly well because the person I was aiming to prank usually gulped down his food. Another prank involved bananas. There’s a way to take a whole banana and cut the inside into slices, WITHOUT taking the peel off. It was funny to watch people’s faces when they discovered they were peeling banana discs! And then there was the time I would loosen the tops of salt shakers in restaurants. Yes, I was a bad, bad boy.
I think the devil is the ultimate prankster. John 10:10 reminds us that the enemy is the thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Now that is malicious. The goal of these pranks is to get us to question and doubt God’s love and care for us. The devil throws these troubles at us in an effort to cause us to look for solutions everywhere else but God. The enemy is tricky in this because he knows that when we try to solve our troubles on our own and apart from God, we only get deeper into trouble.
But God gives us a wonderful promise:
Many are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all. (Psalm 34:19)
Our Heavenly Father reminds us that trouble comes to us even if we’re doing everything right because the enemy is trying to pull us down, no matter how strong we are. The one who created the universe with just His words promises that He will deliver us from all, not some, of the troubles that come to us.
So, it is April Fool’s on the devil. He is defeated by Jesus’ going to the cross. The resurrection of Jesus shows us there is no trouble, not even death, from which God is not able to deliver us.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for this reminder that You will deliver us from all trouble. In the name of the One who made it possible, Jesus. Amen.
