A few years ago I saw a Twilight Zone episode about a small-time gangster who was shot in a robbery attempt. When he awoke he realized that he was in the afterlife, but it was located in a luxury apartment complete with a butler and several good looking girlfriends. As he reveled in his new surroundings he figured that he must have gone to heaven. Every girl wanted him, every horse he bet on won, every poker hand was a winner. But as the episode wore on, he became bored with his constant success. There was no excitment because he knew the outcome would be in his favor every time. He spoke to his butler and remarked that he thought heaven would be better than this. His butler looked at him and said, "Who told you this was heaven?" and then laughed a creepy laugh to end the episode.
We as Christians often fall victim to the kind of thinking that if we like something it is from God and if we don't like it, it is from the devil. James 1:2 tells us to consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. So when things happen to you that you don't like, don't automatically assume that it is an attack of Satan. It may be a trial, allowed by God to make you mature and complete, not lacking anything.
On the other hand, don't automatically assume that just because everything is going just the way you like it that you are in a time of blessing. It may be a temptation to make you comfortable and slow down your progress to becoming the person God wants you to be.
We must be diligent in our relationship with God so that we can tell the difference in what is good for us from what we like. It makes a big difference.
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