The other day I happened to tune in to a religious program on the radio and heard a woman telling the host that the devil had been speaking to her. She described the experience as the devil sending her thoughts. She said these thoughts seemed like the truth, telling her that she really was a bad person and had to suffer back pain. She resisted the devilish thoughts, however, and said that shortly thereafter the back pain left her. She and the host rejoiced at the outcome and agreed that the trouble had been the work of the devil.
Enough bad things happen in the world every day to argue the case strongly for a very active and powerful devil. Even though we don't see some devilish figure lurking in the background, human logic would conclude that something must be causing evil works such as physical suffering or sin. The evidence seems irrefutable.
And yet, what if such evidence were shown to be consistently misleading? What if the "irrefutable" evidence of the devil, or evil—diseases, including those deemed fatal, deformities, dishonesty, malice— were challenged, in prayer, by a thorough understanding of God, infinite good, as the only power, and as a result the evidence changed? Health or calm or good character was restored. What would such a change tell us about the reality and power commonly attributed to evil? More important, what would it tell us about the reality and power of good?
