We’ve been talking this month about suffering, because I know how many of you have been going through difficult things in recent times. (Let me say that if you want a copy of these 7 messages on “Making Sense of Suffering,” sign up on the tape request form on that little desk in the back corner.) Perhaps right now you, or those close to you, are passing through some storm of life that you have pleaded with God to remove, but he has chosen not to. Why? Why wouldn’t a loving God give us relief from crushing trials? Why would he allow us to go through pain and loss, through sickness and deprivation? And you might be wondering how you’re going to make it, because you don’t feel like you’ve got anything left in your tank. Its so important at times like this to get God’s perspective on things. As we look into God’s word, at the experience of the apostle Paul, I want to encourage you that God does not always remove affliction, but uses it to reveal his power as we embrace our weakness.
I. GOD’S PURPOSE IS FULFILLED THROUGH SUFFERING (7-8)
“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.”
A. GOD ALLOWED THE APOSTLE PAUL TO UNDERGO AFFLICTION
1. let’s look at verses 1-6 for a moment to understand why
a. context: Paul defending himself against certain opponents
- people who had gone to Corinth after him
= who were trying to undermine his ministry
- they claimed to be “super-apostles”: higher / better than him
= with more authority from God than he had
- one evidence they gave to establish their credentials…
= the great visions and revelations they claimed to have
b. thus (1), Paul says: “I must go on boasting”
- he doesn’t want to have to toot his own horn
= but his detractors have forced him to talk about his experiences
c. when he says “I know a man” (2): he’s talking about himself
- but he is reticent to draw attention to this experience he had
= because he is trying to report his experience
= while at the same time not drawing attention to it
- he was caught up in some kind of visionary experience to 3rd heaven
= this doesn’t mean the Celestial Kingdom
= in the Greek world: three levels of the heavens
= the atmosphere; the stars above; the abode of God
= he was given a vision of the dwelling place of God
d. unlike some preachers and personalities today…
- Paul refused to call attention to his extraordinary experience
= that’s why he gives almost no details about the vision
- even though he had lived among the Corinthians for almost 2 years…
= it appears: he had never spoken of this experience that whole time
- but now he has to
= because the Corinthian believers are in danger of being led astray
- the tension is: he has to bolster his own credibility for their sake
= but he doesn’t want to boast about what he has seen / experienced
e. (6): he didn’t want anyone to measure him based on anything…
- but by his words and actions alone
Understanding that background, we can see…
2. God’s immediate purpose for the trials in Paul’s life
a. (7) = “to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations”
- for Paul, the visions he received created a spiritual danger in his life
- the incredible nature of what he experienced
= coupled with Paul’s own natural giftedness / abilities
= created the conditions for spiritual pride / arrogance
b. God acted to keep Paul humble
- by allowing him to be afflicted
B. NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHAT PAUL’S AFFLICTION WAS
1. (7): “a thorn in the flesh”
a. there has been tremendous debate about what this is
- a “thorn” is sharp and causes pain
= this implies: the torment had to do with physical infirmity
- I believe probably a permanent personal illness of some kind
= one early tradition suggested that Paul suffered from debilitating migraine headaches
= but that’s mere speculation
b. because he isn’t interested in telling us the details
- only the significance of his affliction
2. (7) also: “a messenger of Satan”
a. in some way, the affliction was sent by Satan
- but at the same time, given by God as part of his purpose
b. what this demonstrates: Satan may try to throw things at you
- but if he does, it can only be because God allows it
- you remember in the book of Job
= it was Satan who directly caused all Job’s sufferings
= but its quite clear in the story: God gave him permission
- why would God do that?
= while Satan may have a plan he wants to work in your life…
= God has a greater purpose
= he can use even Satan’s malice toward you
= turn that to good / to fulfill his higher plans for you
- Satan is not God’s equal in power
= Satan cannot do something in your life that God is not aware of
= or that God cannot stop
- but he might choose not to stop it
= because it actually fulfills his plans
3. whatever this affliction was, he says (7) it was a “torment” to him
a. an ongoing source of weakness in his life
b. that God allowed and used…
- to keep him from being arrogant over his great spiritual experiences
What matters far more than the nature of this trial…
C. HOW PAUL RESPONDED TO HIS SUFFERING
1. his response was no different from ours
a. he asked God (8): “to take it away”
- he not only asked God: he “pleaded with the Lord”
= there is an intensity to his appeal
b. IOW: Paul was not some kind of spiritual masochist
- who believed in suffering for sufferings’ sake
2. (8): he made this plea “three times”
a. the impression I get from this…
- didn’t just pray three times in one day or one week
- but three separate times / periods in his life…
= he grappled with God over this issue in a major way
b. that means, of course, that God said NO
- perhaps Paul accepted that answer initially
= but after a while the torment was too much again
- he renewed his pleading with God a second time
= God still said NO and NO once again
D. WHAT DOES THIS TEACH US ABOUT SUFFERING?
1. God’s purpose may not be to remove you from the trial you are in
a. God may leave you in a time of affliction, even when you ask for relief
- does that mean he is cruel / uncaring?
- just the opposite
b. God has a higher purpose for your life
- something he needs to do in you or through you
= that is more important than relief from affliction
- in our culture today, it is hard to accept…
= that anything is more important than relief from pain
- but God’s greater purpose is!
2. God knows your make-up
a. he knew what would be a spiritual danger for Paul
- so he acted to spare him from that
b. likewise: he knows what you need to grow in your faith
- he knows what you can and cannot handle
- so his plan for you is tailored to your needs / for your benefit
If you have ever questioned God’s purpose in your suffering, or asked “why” he is allowing some difficult trial in your life, or if you have pleaded with God more than once to remove it from your life, then you can probably relate to Pam and what she was feeling after her husband died. I want to introduce her to you by way of a short video clip.
Show video (2:29)
What would we tell Pam in her situation? She needs to know, as we do, the lesson that Paul learned when God refused to remove his “thorn in the flesh”. Not only is God’s purpose fulfilled through suffering…
D. GOD’S POWER IS REVEALED THROUGH SUFFERING (9-10)
“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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
As we’ve seen, God does not always remove the trials from our lives, but…
A. GOD ALWAYS GIVES SUFFICIENT GRACE TO HANDLE TRIALS
1. grace is God’s free gifting to us…
a. whereby he gives us whatever we need
- so grace in salvation: God freely gives us forgiveness of our sins
= gives us new life in Christ
= he does that unconditionally / as we simply trust in his provision
b. (9): God freely gives us whatever we need in suffering
- if you need courage, he gives it
= if you need strength, he gives it
= if you need comfort, he gives it
= if you need guidance, he gives it
- as you trust him / turn to him for his provision
2. I hope you can sense God’s voice speaking to you through (9)
a. reassuring you: his grace really is good your need
b. that he is providing all that you require at this time
B. BEYOND THAT, (9) REVEALS GOD’S LARGER PURPOSE…
1. beyond just Paul’s personal issue of the danger of pride, we also see…
2. suffering exposes our weakness and neediness
a. trials lay our limitations right on the table
- they shatter our illusions of self-sufficiency and personal strength
b. what’s more: suffering strips away our second-rate sources of happiness
- shows them to be shallow
- drives us to depend on God alone…
= to satisfy the deepest longings of our heart
c. its good for our weakness / limitation to be exposed, because…
3. our weakness is the context in which God’s power is made perfect
a. that word: “made perfect”
- God’s power becomes complete
= the fullest, most comprehensive expression of God’s ability
= is not seen in outstanding visions / miracles
- but when we are going through times of weakness / hardship
b. (9): Paul says: “in my weakness, I find that Christ’s power rests on me”
- (10): “when I am weak, then I am strong”
= what does he mean by that? is that some sort of double-talk?
= “when I’m weak, I’m strong?”
- I believe it means: when I am weak in and of myself
= when I’m sick / afraid / confused / in over my head
= I find that I can be strong through strength of Christ given to me
- when you don’t have the resources in myself to face the situation
= you don’t have the knowledge / wisdom / experience / energy
= you find that Christ’s power gives you whatever I need
- we can still succeed / still do the right thing
= see the results that God wants to bring
= by relying on his strength imparted to us
= as we turn and trust in him
- it might be fair to say: if you’re praying for God’s power in your life
= you shouldn’t be surprised if God’s answer is affliction
c. this idea is so foreign to our natural way of thinking: I want to tell you a story to illustrate what these verses mean…
Harry Leasement is a missionary who spent a good deal of his ministry working in Estonia. (I read about him recently in Discipleship Journal.) One day, two young men applied for Leasement’s Bible college. One had partial hearing; the other was completely deaf. Harry was hesitant, but seeking the Lord’s guidance, he enrolled the eager students and began the lengthy process of adapting the curriculum to their needs.
From these small beginnings – just two obedient, deaf disciples – emerged a tremendous harvest for God’s kingdom. Within two years, more than 300 of Estonia’s deaf had been converted to Christ. They began their own school and have since established a college especially for training deaf missionaries. The movement has spread into Russia, Mongolia, and the Ukraine. The number of deaf Christians in that region now reaches into the tens of thousands.
Someone once asked Harry Leasement the obvious question: What about healing? He must have thought about that for these two men. Harry smiled and replied, “We more than thought about it. We prayed it through, and we preached it! In fact, both of these guys were skinny from fasting and seeking God. They sought the Lord [for their healing] for several years.” Yet God did not heal.
Through this seeming silence from God came a significant lesson. “Actually,” Harry explained, “one of our interpreters was healed of her deafness. Yet when she was healed, she found herself suddenly an outsider among the profoundly deaf. The two men received a grace from God to recognize their deafness as the key to reaching the whole deaf community.”
Harry quoted the statistics: There are 8.7 million profoundly deaf people in Russia and 75.2 million in China. “When the men received the concept that deafness could be a key to reach people no one else could reach, a joy came into their lives.”
e. they realized what Paul had learned
- if God had chosen to grant healing from their “thorn in the flesh”
= their lives would have been easier, no doubt
- but the saving power of God that reached thousands of people
= would not have found its release through them
C. WHAT DO WE DO WITH THIS?
1. Paul has two responses as a result of learning this lesson
a. (9): “therefore I will boast about my weaknesses”
- he would not boast about his visions
= he refused to be a spiritual celebrity
= but he didn’t mind calling attention to his weaknesses
- we’re not talking about sins
= there is nothing to boast about when it comes to sin in our lives
- but everyone has weaknesses
= our typical reaction is to hate our weaknesses
= to be shattered / overwhelmed / discouraged by them
= sometimes we become bitter toward God for allowing them
= or we try to cover them up under mask of self-sufficiency
- Paul says: these are the things in my life I’m most proud of
b. (10): “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties”
- when somebody is against you
= when hard things happen to you
= when circumstances don’t work out very easily
- Paul says: “Bring ‘em on!”
= he’s not out looking for trouble
= we don’t have to look for trouble: its going to come our way
- but when it does come: we’re not shattered
= not overwhelmed with discouragement
2. the point: we have reason to actually embrace weakness / to accept difficulty
a. because those are the vehicles of God’s power in our lives
b. this is what it means to be part of a community of grace like Wasatch Ch.
- its okay to be weak / okay to have limitations
- you don’t have to fake it
= you don’t have to pretend you’re stronger than you are
- because: as we embrace our own weakness
= its easy to accept weakness in each other as well
c. for its only when we are open about our weakness
- when we stop trying to be strong / capable in ourselves
- that we experience God’s power
d. as the two Estonian men discovered
- they finally came to the place where they embraced deafness with joy
= once they realized how God could use it so profoundly
- is God going to use your affliction to lead thousands to Christ?
= who can say? Maybe he will…
= but you’ll never know what he can do through your weakness
= until you are willing to accept it / trust God with it
e. for some of you that might mean a change of attitude this morning
- submit to what God is doing in your life
- stop being bitter / angry about it
- instead: adopt an attitude of expectancy: waiting on God
= to see what he might do in & through you
= now that you are stripped of your self-sufficiency
= and totally available to him
CONCLUSION
Charles Haddon Spurgeon is well-known as the greatest preacher of his day. He lived in London during the time of Lincoln. Even today he is still widely read and still known as “The Prince of Preachers.” He preached to thousands of people every Sunday at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, in a day before sound amplification. He trained hundreds of young men as pastors. Yet his powerful ministry was embedded in a life of emotional and physical suffering. Spurgeon suffered recurring bouts of depression throughout his adult life. Because of his own popularity and the unpopular stands he took against theological compromise, Spurgeon also had to endure constant ridicule from others, including other pastors. Added to this was his need to provide continual care for his wife, who was an invalid for most of their marriage. What’s more, Spurgeon spent a third of his twenty-seven years in ministry out of the pulpit because of his own physical illness. There was hardly a weakness, insult, hardship or difficulty that Spurgeon did not experience. God did not remove his afflictions. Yet there was no one with more spiritual impact in Great Britain in his generation. Here’s what Spurgeon’s wrote in response to his suffering and weakness as a pastor:
“Such humbling but salutary messages our [chastenings] whisper in our ears, they tell us in a manner not to be mistaken that we are but men, frail, feeble, apt to faint.”
He adds: “[By this] there shall be no division of the glory, no diminishing of the honor due to [God].”
God does not always remove affliction. Can you accept that today? Are you willing, even a little bit, to embrace the weakness God has allowed in your life right now? Can you trust him with his purposes? Because as you do, God will use that weakness to reveal his power in you and through you, in ways that you probably cannot now imagine. Let’s pray.
