God Will Empower You to Succeed

2 Corinthians 12 : 7 - 9, And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." NKJV

Even though our souls have been saved from sin, our flesh nature still must be crucified daily. Therefore, lest Paul be tempted to exalt himself, he was given a thorn in his flesh; a messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him. The word buffet means to rap with a fist (to punish.) We know what the thorn was because Paul tells us later in this chapter that he gladly suffered persecutions, infirmities, and distresses. Consequently, here is what the Lord wanted me to share with you: Paul's thorn was in his flesh... not in his spirit. 

Paul repeatedly asked the Lord to remove the thorn. Nevertheless, the Lord told Paul that His grace was sufficient and His strength was made perfect in Paul's weakness. Although he had to deal with the demonic forces against him, Paul never allowed the attacks to keep him from obeying God. He understood what Jesus meant when He told him that His grace was enough. Instead of taking the thorn away, Jesus chose to give Paul the grace to endure it.

When Jesus died on the cross, He didn't die to take away our flesh, but rather to take away our sins. However, now that we've been redeemed from the curse of sin and death, Jesus has given us His grace so that we can overcome the weaknesses of our flesh nature. We have been empowered to trust God to bring us through the trials of this life. 

Why didn't Jesus answer Paul's request and take away the thorn? Did Jesus want Paul to be tormented to death by the messenger of Satan? He absolutely did not! Jesus wanted Paul to use God's grace to overcome his flesh and to defeat the demonic force that was at work there. Our flesh nature is by far our worst enemy. If we should refuse to face our greatest fears and opponents through God's grace, then we won't know what Christ is capable of performing through our obedience. 

Jesus told both His disciples, who were with Him, and us, who read His words in scripture that if we desire to come after Him, we must first deny our "self" nature. God gives every single believer the grace to deny self. As we obey the Lord through God's grace, despite the thorns in our flesh, His strength empowers us to overcome all spiritual attacks and obstacles. 

We're in a spiritual war, and we can't win it apart from God's grace. Nevertheless, because of Jesus and all that He has done on our behalf, we don't have to fight the good fight of faith without God's grace. You can't do God's work in the strength of your flesh; nonetheless, you can overcome any weaknesses of the flesh nature through His strength, thus bringing Him glory in your life. Now, is there anything that stands in the way of you obeying God's will? If you have examined your heart, and you have found that there is an obstacle, submit it to Christ as Paul did in today's scripture; then go out and obey God's will "anyway." You will find that the power of God is with you, and you will overcome the enemy. 

You Can Do This,
Pastor Asa Dockery