His Heart is Steadfast

Tree in River

Psalm 112:7 NIV
"He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD."

The seniors and I discussed an excerpt from Book I of John Milton's Paradise Lost today. Two quotes interested them. They are:

1)  "The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n."

2)  "Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n."

We discussed these ideas. They all knew people dissatisfied with their lives no matter how good or bad they have it. The students talked about the importance of positive attitudes for getting by in life.

At the start of class, I asked, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"  Many students believed we go through tough times as an opportunity to learn in order to grow and become better people. 

They didn't perceive negative experiences as necessarily bad, but instead saw them as a path to a higher level of existence we all have to travel.

I explained Milton wrote Paradise Lost as a vehicle to explain to the English why the last two decades of their society had been so tumultuous.  He perceived horrible social events the people had endured as spiritual warfare between Satan and God, while humans were caught in the middle. Satan tormented God's creation in order to get back at God, according to Milton. 

He saw the battle between Good and Evil as the answer to why bad things happened in the world.

We examined Satan as a character in the epic poem. This was a new experience for the students. It's difficult for me to think of Satan as a literary character, so I know it was hard for the kids.

It stretches my imagination to picture Satan and Beelzebub lying on the fiery floor of hell (after being thrown there nine days earlier) as they plot their revenge on God. To listen to their twisted conversation and perceive Satan's arrogance and desire for dominance and power over God and all his creation causes my skin to crawl with goosebumps.

Yet according to the text, Satan acknowledged God's supremecy to Beelzebub when he told him, "But what if he our Conquerour, (whom I now/ Of force believe Almighty, since no less /Then such could hav orepow'rd such force as ours)."

In other words, Satan understood as soon as he and his army were tossed out of Heaven they were no match for the power of God and His army of angels, and he never will be. God will always be the victor over the Evil One because He is mightier.

Both the Bible and Book I of Paradise Lost remind me, I have free will to follow God or to follow Satan.

I have the opportunity each day to improve the quality of my life through positive thinking or not. As Milton wrote, I can create my own Heaven or Hell on Earth by my thoughts.

Which way do I go? Each day the battle begins again. I must remain steadfast in the Lord.
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Thank you Lord for your faithfulness and power over the Evil One.