Does Satan Know The Will Of God?

[Chamomile]

[font="arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif"][size=2]My initial thought is no, as he wouldn't have encouraged Judas to betray Jesus, thus leading to the redemption of the world through the crucifixion. But he might be able to tell what will make us holier and thus frustrate those designs. And perhaps he just generally causes confusion when we are trying to discern God's will and it's not obvious where we should go.

Just wondering what others think about this, as it seems like sometimes we can interpret difficulties as a real obstacle that would let us know something isn't God's will for us... but then couldn't that also be the meddling of demons? [/size][/font][size=2]

I try to focus on Christ and listen for His quiet voice (especially in Adoration), but I wonder how others differentiate between limits placed by God and stupid demonic interference. I also know a priest or spiritual advisor can help one discern such things, but ultimately, it seems to be up to the individual in some cases.

I vaguely remember hearing something about a retreat done by Miles Christi maybe on EWTN about testing spirits (discerning whether they are of God or not). That seems like something that should be taught more, especially in these times when we're bombarded by messages everywhere.[/size]

[vee]

St Ignatius and his discernment of spirits ftw!

[url="http://ignatianspirituality.com/making-good-decisions/discernment-of-spirits/"]http://ignatianspiri...ent-of-spirits/[/url]

Edited April 2, 2011 by vee8

[Chamomile]

[quote name='vee8' timestamp='1301787560' post='2225507']
St Ignatius and his discernment of spirits ftw!

[url="http://ignatianspirituality.com/making-good-decisions/discernment-of-spirits/"]http://ignatianspiri...ent-of-spirits/[/url]
[/quote]

I almost wrote in my post something like, "Vee, I know you're going to post something about St. Ignatius." Just start a cloistered convent of Jesuit nuns already.

Anyways, thanks! That's a good bunch of resources. Although it would be very handy to have St. Ignatius as my spiritual director when the confusing stuff comes around....

[kafka]

the fallen angels do not know God's will since they have no love-faith-hope (infused with sanctifying grace). Nor do they have the seven gift of the Holy Spirit. Nor do they have the beautific union and vision of God in Heaven.

God will permit the fallen angels to tempt His children from time to time, but this is all subject to God's will, grace and providence.

Edited April 3, 2011 by kafka

[Chamomile]

So this is more what I was wondering about. Taken from St. Ignatius' discernment of spirits:


[b][size="2"] [/size][/b][quote][b][size="2"][font="Arial"]Fourth Rule[/font][/size][/b][size="2"][font="Arial"]. The fourth: It is proper to the evil Angel, who forms himself under the appearance of an angel of light, to enter with the devout soul and go out with himself: that is to say, to bring good and holy thoughts, conformable to such just soul, and then little by little he aims at coming out drawing the soul to his covert deceits and perverse intentions.[/font][/size][/quote][size="2"] [/size]


In [url="http://ignatianspirituality.com/making-good-decisions/discernment-of-spirits/the-devil-comes-cloaked-as-an-angel-of-light/"]another article[/url] on the website Vee linked to, an example is given of St. Ignatius himself having to discern between "spiritual favors" that were actually from an evil spirit as opposed to following the will of God. St. Ignatius discovers that God is not the only source of pious thoughts, the article says. Going along with what St. Ignatius experienced, it then would seem that the evil spirit knew what was God's will and tried to draw him another way. But sometimes (and sometimes in major ways), God's will does become obvious to others besides ourselves, so maybe that's how the evil spirit knew.

So this is really more of my question. This type of discernment seems very difficult in certain situations, and I don't know how to differentiate. Maybe this is something that can only be discerned with a spiritual director/father/mother/etc... ?