7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Let us get it right. This was a work of the devil. It was allowed by God for humility purposes. It was no fun. Buffet is not a place with a lot of good food. This buffet was quantitative but of no pleasure.
Strong’s defines it from the Greek as: to strike with the fist, give one a blow with the fist; to maltreat, treat with violence and contumely. Contumely is an insulting display of contempt in words or actions; contemptuous or humiliating treatment. A humiliating insult.
Satan’s pummeling affected Paul physically, verbally, and emotionally. While it was Divinely allowed, the Lord granted a spiritual armor to keep Paul. My grace is sufficient for thee. So grace is not only an allowance to be human, as I have said before, it is strength to endure. Longsuffering, a fruit of the Spirit that Paul had listed in Galatians 5:22, was being developed. Longsuffering intrinsically accompanies grace. It is embedded.
Paul was a perfectionist. This matter was the one thing that kept him reliant on grace. Remember he had noted his blameless estate regarding keeping of the law.
In Philippians 3:6 he declares: Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
As a Pharisee Paul was proud of his flawlessness. But in the next verse he states: But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. As a Christian he had to admit to imperfection. But the temptation was always there. And then throw in all the magnificent revelations and visions he had. It was not easy to keep the pride in abeyance. So God helped him. Ironically, God allowed the master of pride, the one who had thought he could be as God, Satan himself, to send his cohort to buffet Paul. Really humbling.
Otherwise Paul would have been unbearable. He would have been perfect, if only in his own eyes, and perhaps in the eyes of some of his followers. People tend to place their preachers on pedestals. But that could not be allowed. There is only one perfect one that has walked the earth. Jesus. No man can exist without the ministry of grace. And so Paul was maintained in a position of dire need of God’s unmerited favor.
But that was enough. For another aspect of grace is that it excels in weakness. When one understands his imperfectness, and relies solely on the finished work of Christ on the Cross, he is strengthened perfectly to meet the need. That perfection is the right one. It does not consist of human attempts. It is acceptance of God’s gift of grace through which he sees us righteous by the work of His Son Jesus.
Do you have a weakness? Acknowledge it, and appropriate the gift of grace to move you forward. Satan thought his buffeting would stop Paul. God brought out a supernatural response that moved Paul forward in victory.
Perfection is not your responsibility. Grace is God’s response to your flaws. Accept that, and walk like Paul, forward in victory. -PJF-
Purpose! Ministries
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