Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #26: The Thorn in Your Flesh
“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.”—2 Corinthians 12:7
Martin Luther once said, “Even the devil is God’s devil.” Satan and God are not equals and they never will be. Satan is a created being, while God is the uncreated Deity. Satan is limited, God is not. Satan lies, God does not (Titus 1:2). God created the universe out of nothing, while the devil can only attempt to destroy God’s good creation (Genesis 1:1; John 10:10). God is like an artist who makes a sketch of a creature on a page. The creature cannot do anything that the artist will not allow him to do. Satan may be an evil foe (of his own choices), but he cannot jump off the page—his limits are clearly defined.
The devil can only do what God allows him to. In the case of Job, God allowed the devil to take Job’s career, family, and health, but God would not let Satan kill him (cf. Job 1:12, 2:6). The Bible is clear that the devil is a defeated foe, his defeat having been decided at the cross (Colossians 2:15) of Christ. And while we wait for the day when Satan’s defeat will be enforced for eternity, we live in the time of the in-between, as Satan still roams the earth, awaiting the day when the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Christ (Revelation 11:15) and Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire to be punished forever and ever (Revelation 20:10-14). While Satan is currently defeated in position, he still is active in practice, much like a prisoner on death row awaiting his sentence. Satan’s sentence has been issued, but the day for it to be enforced is not yet. And until that time, he continually wars against God’s people.
In today’s passage, the apostle Paul wrote about a thorn in his flesh, which was a “messenger” of Satan sent to him in order to keep him from being conceited or proud. We do not know what this “messenger” or "thorn" was exactly. Scholars are divided as to its exact manifestation. And it’s good that we don’t know, because if we did, we would only see the “messenger” related to Paul (whatever it was exactly) and wouldn’t recognize the messenger sent to be our thorn. God wanted us to have this knowledge so that we know such a thorn in the flesh exists, and it does come from Satan but manifests itself differently in each of our lives.
Sometimes, God allows the devil to have access to us, not so that we may be defeated, but so that we might cling to Christ and have the power of His resurrection life made available to us through weakness. It’s not easy though. As Paul wrote,
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”—2 Corinthians 12:8-10.
Satan will stop at nothing in order to discredit the name of the Savior. But the more that Satan wars against us, the more we rely on God. Think about it honestly. When are the times that we cling to God the most? It’s in the time of suffering when we experience the thorn in the flesh that we are most acutely aware of God’s presence—as when a child, terrified by a stranger, is most aware of the parent standing nearby.
Paul wanted us to know that the thorn from Satan only served to drive him closer to Christ so that Christ might be seen and known in a greater and more personal way. What is your messenger? What is the thorn in your flesh? What is it that you believe is keeping you from God? Are you pleading with God to take it away or are you resting in the promise that His grace is sufficient? May God allow us all to run to the cross of Christ, whenever we face our own “messengers of Satan,” resting in the promise of forgiveness made available through Christ. Amen.
Martin Luther once said, “Even the devil is God’s devil.” Satan and God are not equals and they never will be. Satan is a created being, while God is the uncreated Deity. Satan is limited, God is not. Satan lies, God does not (Titus 1:2). God created the universe out of nothing, while the devil can only attempt to destroy God’s good creation (Genesis 1:1; John 10:10). God is like an artist who makes a sketch of a creature on a page. The creature cannot do anything that the artist will not allow him to do. Satan may be an evil foe (of his own choices), but he cannot jump off the page—his limits are clearly defined.
The devil can only do what God allows him to. In the case of Job, God allowed the devil to take Job’s career, family, and health, but God would not let Satan kill him (cf. Job 1:12, 2:6). The Bible is clear that the devil is a defeated foe, his defeat having been decided at the cross (Colossians 2:15) of Christ. And while we wait for the day when Satan’s defeat will be enforced for eternity, we live in the time of the in-between, as Satan still roams the earth, awaiting the day when the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Christ (Revelation 11:15) and Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire to be punished forever and ever (Revelation 20:10-14). While Satan is currently defeated in position, he still is active in practice, much like a prisoner on death row awaiting his sentence. Satan’s sentence has been issued, but the day for it to be enforced is not yet. And until that time, he continually wars against God’s people.
In today’s passage, the apostle Paul wrote about a thorn in his flesh, which was a “messenger” of Satan sent to him in order to keep him from being conceited or proud. We do not know what this “messenger” or "thorn" was exactly. Scholars are divided as to its exact manifestation. And it’s good that we don’t know, because if we did, we would only see the “messenger” related to Paul (whatever it was exactly) and wouldn’t recognize the messenger sent to be our thorn. God wanted us to have this knowledge so that we know such a thorn in the flesh exists, and it does come from Satan but manifests itself differently in each of our lives.
Sometimes, God allows the devil to have access to us, not so that we may be defeated, but so that we might cling to Christ and have the power of His resurrection life made available to us through weakness. It’s not easy though. As Paul wrote,
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”—2 Corinthians 12:8-10.
Satan will stop at nothing in order to discredit the name of the Savior. But the more that Satan wars against us, the more we rely on God. Think about it honestly. When are the times that we cling to God the most? It’s in the time of suffering when we experience the thorn in the flesh that we are most acutely aware of God’s presence—as when a child, terrified by a stranger, is most aware of the parent standing nearby.
Paul wanted us to know that the thorn from Satan only served to drive him closer to Christ so that Christ might be seen and known in a greater and more personal way. What is your messenger? What is the thorn in your flesh? What is it that you believe is keeping you from God? Are you pleading with God to take it away or are you resting in the promise that His grace is sufficient? May God allow us all to run to the cross of Christ, whenever we face our own “messengers of Satan,” resting in the promise of forgiveness made available through Christ. Amen.
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