Saturday, October 04,
2014, 6:00 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Wait!” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NASB).
Because
of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me
from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored
the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace
is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly,
therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ
may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults,
with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for
when I am weak, then I am strong.
To Torment
Paul was an apostle (messenger; servant) of God who was
given great spiritual revelations from God. Because he was still human, and he
was still in a flesh body, there was the potential for pride and conceit to
take hold in his life. So, in order to keep him from becoming conceited (puffed
up), God gave (or allowed) him a thorn (sharp and piercing affliction, irritation,
or annoyance) in his flesh (body; humanity). This affliction was in the form of
a messenger (representative) of Satan, and its purpose was to torment him in
order to keep him from exalting himself.
There are many theories as to what this messenger of Satan
was, but I will not attempt to make a guess, because I don’t think the “what”
is important. Instead, I will share what I believe are the essential elements
of this situation, and how this can be applied to our lives.
From God
First of all, I would like to cite the example of Job. Job
was a godly and upright man who feared God, and yet God allowed him to be
afflicted of Satan. Not only did he allow this, but God instigated it. Satan
presented himself before God, and the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my
servant Job?” (Job 1:8) Satan responded by presenting to God the fact that the
Lord had a hedge of protection around Job, and that nothing could touch him but
what God permitted it to take place. So, the Lord told Satan that all Job
possessed was in Satan’s power, only he could not touch Job himself.
So, Job’s livestock, servants, and his sons and daughters
were all put to death. Job grieved over his loss of animals, servants and
children, and yet he did not curse God. His attitude was that it was the Lord
who gave all of that to him, and it was the Lord’s to take it all away, and so he
blessed God. “Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God” (Job 1:22).
Certainly this must have enraged Satan. Yet, it did not end there. This
happened again, only this time Satan suggested that God should “touch his bone
and his flesh” (2:5) and that Job would curse God, so God gave Satan the power
to touch Job, but he could not take his life. God always set the limits on what
Satan could do.
Now, going back to this situation with Paul and his thorn,
although there are those who would disagree with me about this, I believe it
was God who gave (or allowed) Paul that messenger of Satan to torment him because
only God would have the purpose to keep Paul from being conceited, and because
I believe Satan cannot touch us who are the Lord’s without permission from God
to do so.
For me, this gives me great comfort and security to know
that when bad things happen to us that they are not without purpose, that God
is absolutely and completely in control and sovereign over all things, that he
is completely trustworthy and faithful, that he sets limits on what Satan can
do to us, and that our Lord will carry (see) us through it all; as well as he
will accomplish his purposes in and through it for the praise of his name, for
his honor and glory, for the salvation of souls, the encouragement and
strengthening of his servants, and for our spiritual growth, maturity,
perseverance, and endurance, as well as to develop within us godly character
(See: Jn. 16:33; Ac. 14:22; Ro. 5:3-5; 8:17-18; 2 Co. 1:5-7; Phil. 1:29-30; 3:8-11;
Jas. 1:2-12; 1 Pet. 1:6-9; 3:14-17; 4:12-19; 5:6-11; 2 Tim. 1:8).
As well, I believe this is paralleled over into Revelation
13 where it speaks of how Satan’s emissary, the beast, is given power to make
war against the saints. Although the dragon gave the beast his authority, the
dragon only has authority as much as what God allows (permits). If God does not
have power over Satan, and he cannot set limits on Satan and on what he can do,
then he is not our all-powerful and completely sovereign God. And yet,
scripture teaches us that our Lord is completely sovereign, all-powerful and
that he is in control over all things, “with angels, authorities and powers in
submission to him” (See: Eph. 1:15-23; Col. 1:15-20; 2:9-10; 1 Peter 3:21b-22;
& Rev. 3:14). Amen!
Thus, I believe that, not only can Satan not touch us unless
God allows it, and that our God is all-powerful and completely sovereign over
all that happens in our lives, but when God does allow trouble, hardships,
persecutions, difficulties, and even physical ailments within our bodies, that he
has a purpose in it all, and that it is for our ultimate good and for the good
of other people whose lives we touch. Amen! In that, I rejoice!!
Sufficient Grace
Awesome! Not only are the troubles of our lives not random, but
for a purpose, and limited by God’s protecting power, but his grace to us is
totally sufficient to help us during those times of need, for his power is
brought to completion in our weakness. I don’t know about you, but I find
enormous comfort and encouragement in these words!
I know that even when my body is weak and my strength has
failed, that he will give me all I need to keep going. I have seen him do this
in my life on a consistent and regular basis, as I know that I don’t have what
it takes, in my own flesh, nor can I do what God has called me to do apart from
his grace. I am weak, fearful, and lacking in knowledge and understanding apart
from God’s all-sufficient grace to me, and apart from his power which so
wonderfully works in and through me on a daily basis so that I can complete the
assignments he has given to me to do.
So, I must learn, and I am learning to be content in
whatever circumstances he has me in, as well as I am still learning to count
them all joy, for I know that for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ, and for
my testimony for him, and for the sake of his gospel, of which I am a minister,
that insults, persecutions, weaknesses, distresses and difficulties of various
kinds are part of my life, and are part of the plan and purpose God has for my
life, and that they are for my ultimate good as God works his will in and
through my life for his glory.
The other thing I know with great certainty is that because
God allows these difficulties in my life, and he allows Satan to torment me, at
times, that all this that is good that is produced in and through me for his
glory is not of my own doing or of my own flesh, but it is the strength and
power of the Spirit of God working his will and purpose in and through my life.
So, all praise, honor and glory belong to him and to him alone always and
forever!
Wait! / An
Original Work / February 8, 2014
Wait for your Lord. Be
of courage.
Be strong, and take
heart today.
God is always watching
o’er you.
Trust Him with your
life always.
Sing of your Lord.
Praise His blessings.
Believe in His
sovereignty.
He delivered you from
your sin;
Gave you life
eternally.
Rest in your Lord.
Know His promise.
Beneath His wings rest
secure.
Your God has a plan
and purpose.
Let your faith in Him
endure.
Trust in your Lord.
He’ll not leave you,
Because He is
faithfulness.
He will lead and
guide; protect you.
In His love you can
find rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment