31 How God Uses Suffering

(2 Corinthians 12:5–10)

On behalf of such a man will I boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. 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. (12:5–10)

The question of why bad things happen to seemingly good people is an issue that troubles many. Disease, crime, hunger, poverty, accidents, and natural disasters seem to strike without rhyme or reason, affecting both the seemingly innocent and the guilty alike.

But the Bible teaches that bad things happen to all people because all are fallen sinners who live in a fallen world. No one is inherently good: “There is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10). Because of that reality, suffering is universal. According to Job 5:7, “Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.” Jesus declared, “In the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33), while Paul reminded Christians that it is “through many tribulations [that] we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22), because “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

Even God’s most noble servants are not immune to suffering. Jonathan Edwards was probably the greatest theologian America has ever known. For more than twenty years he faithfully labored as the pastor of a church in Northampton, Massachusetts. His preaching had a profound impact on the widespread eighteenth-century revival known as the Great Awakening. Incredibly, after more than two decades of faithful ministry, the congregation voted Edwards out of his church. They did so not because of any moral blemish or doctrinal deviation on his part, but because he insisted that only those who had made a public confession of faith be permitted to join the church and partake in the Lord’s Supper.

Like Jonathan Edwards, Paul experienced the deepest pain in life—being rejected by those whom he cared for and ministered to. The apostle loved the Corinthians; he had brought the gospel to them, nurtured them, taught them, and poured his life into them. That many of them had abandoned him in favor of the false apostles hurt Paul deeply. He was, in fact, experiencing the severest pain of his life. He was so troubled that while anxiously awaiting Titus’s report about the situation in Corinth, Paul uncharacteristically did not fully take advantage of an open door for ministry at Troas (2 Cor. 2:12–13).

As he noted in 11:22–27, Paul was no stranger to physical suffering. Yet far more painful was his burden of concern for the churches (11:28–29). He empathized with believers’ weaknesses and burned with righteous indignation when they were led into sin.

How Paul handled suffering provides a model for all believers. No text in Scripture more powerfully unfolds God’s purposes in believers’ pain than does this passage. It is a gem of rare beauty, forged in the fiery heat of chapters 10–13, perhaps the most emotionally charged passage Paul ever penned. From the crucible of Paul’s suffering emerge five reasons that God allows suffering in believers’ lives: to reveal their spiritual condition, to humble them, to draw them to Himself, to display His grace, and to perfect His power.

GOD USES SUFFERING TO REVEAL BELIEVERS’ SPIRITUAL CONDITION

On behalf of such a man will I boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. (12:5–6)

Trouble is the truest test of a person’s spiritual character. When adversity strikes, the superficial veneer of peace and happiness is stripped away, revealing what is really in the heart. The Lord brought intense suffering into Paul’s life in part to reveal his integrity for all to see and to establish his credibility.

As in verses 2–4, Paul humbly referred to himself in the third person, writing, On behalf of such a man will I boast. Speaking of himself like that also emphasized his passivity in his vision. He did nothing to make it happen; it was something God sovereignly chose to grant, not a reflection of any merit on Paul’s part. He was just an ordinary man and would not boast on his own behalf as if he in any way merited the vision God had given him.

What Paul would boast about were his weaknesses, for they provided compelling proof of his apostleship. How else could his immense impact be explained, except that God’s power was at work in him? As his enemies were quick to point out, Paul’s “personal presence [was] unimpressive and his speech contemptible” (10:10). But what they failed to understand was that, paradoxically, Paul was strongest when he was weakest (12:10).

Paul’s boast was not … foolish, for unlike the false apostles and their specious claims, he was speaking the truth; his vision really happened, and to deny that would be false humility. Nonetheless, he wisely decided to refrain from resting his case for his apostleship on his vision. The problem was that it was not repeatable, verifiable, or even fully comprehensible. Using it to prove his apostleship would open the door for charlatans to claim authority to speak for God based on their own alleged mystical experiences. Besides, the vision did not draw him closer to God; in fact, it was actually a source of temptation to pride (12:7).

Paul was concerned that no one should credit him with more than he saw in him or heard from him. The true measure of a man of God is not his alleged mystical experiences but his godly life and his faithfulness to the Word of God. The most startling, spectacular vision or supernatural revelation is not as significant as the least righteous act.

God plunged Paul into the deepest sorrow and the severest pain to reveal most clearly that he was a genuine man of God. True spiritual power, authority, and integrity do not come from visions and revelations but from godly humility (cf. 4:7; Col. 2:18–19).

GOD USES SUFFERING TO MAKE BELIEVERS HUMBLE

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! (12:7)

The evidence of Paul’s success in ministry was the power of the gospel to transform lives that led to the churches he founded and built up. They were a monument to his faithfulness and to God’s power working through him. To see any of those churches being led astray by false teachers was a painful, humbling experience for Paul, yet one that he needed. Twice in verse 7 he emphasized that God allowed his thorn in the flesh to keep him from exalting himself. Though he was the noblest Christian of all, Paul was not impervious to the normal struggles of life. Certainly, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations he had experienced (Acts records six visions apart from the one related in this passage; he also received the gospel he preached by revelation [Gal. 1:11–12; cf. Eph. 3:3]), pride was a constant temptation. Therefore, to keep him humble, Paul was given … a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment him.

The identity of that thorn in the flesh has been much debated. Paul did not describe it in detail, indicating that the Corinthians knew what it was. Most commentators assume it was a physical ailment, such as migraines, ophthalmia, malaria, epilepsy, gallstones, gout, rheumatism, an intestinal disorder, or even a speech impediment. That such a wide range of possibilities has been put forth indicates a lack of specific support in Scripture for any of them. (Even if Paul’s words in Gal. 6:11, “See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand,” indicate an eye problem, there is nothing in that verse that connects it with the apostle’s thorn in the flesh.) Skolops (thorn) could be better translated “stake,” graphically indicating the intensity of the suffering it caused Paul; it was not a small thorn but a large stake.

The apostle acknowledged that the thorn in the flesh ultimately was given to him from God. (See Job 1 and 2, where God permitted Satan to afflict Job for His own purposes; cf. Gen. 50:20.) The phrase in the flesh could also be rendered “for” or “because of the flesh.” Flesh should be understood here not in a physical sense, but in a moral sense as a reference to Paul’s unredeemed humanness (cf. Rom. 6:19; 7:5, 18, 25; 8:4–9). The Lord allowed Paul’s intense suffering to impale his otherwise proud flesh; to humble the one who had so many revelations.

It is best to understand Paul’s thorn as a demonic messenger of Satan sent to torment him by using the deceivers to seduce the Corinthians into a rebellion against him. At least four lines of evidence support that interpretation. First, in the overwhelming majority of its uses in the New Testament (including every other occurrence in Paul’s writings), angelos (messenger) refers to angels. An angel sent from Satan would, of course, be a demon. Second, the verb translated torment always refers to harsh treatment from someone (Matt. 26:67; Mark 14:65; 1 Cor. 4:11; 1 Peter 2:20). Third, the Old Testament sometimes refers metaphorically to opponents as thorns (e.g., Num. 33:55; Josh. 23:13; Judg. 2:3; Ezek. 28:24). Finally, the verb translated leave in verse 8 is always used in the New Testament to speak of someone departing. Likely, then, the demonic messenger was tormenting Paul by being the indwelling spirit in the leading false apostle (cf. 2 Cor. 11:13–15; 1 Tim. 4:1). Again, this is consistent with Paul’s testimony that his severest suffering came from his concern for the church (11:28–29).

Satan’s assault on Paul did not take place outside of God’s will. God is sovereign over all of His creation and will use even the forces of the kingdom of darkness to accomplish His righteous purposes (cf. Num. 22:2–24:25; 1 Kings 22:19–23; Luke 22:31–32). Paul was critical to God’s redemptive plan, and He would keep him humble by whatever means necessary, including using a demon. If this seems unusual, remember the accounts of Job (Job 1:6–12; 2:1–7) and Peter (Luke 22:31). In both cases God allowed Satan to bring devastating suffering on His saints to achieve their greater usefulness. This is a good reminder of the foolishness of those who try to tell Satan and demons what to do and where to go. If we could command demons, we might thwart the purposes of God with our faulty assumptions.

GOD USES SUFFERING TO DRAW BELIEVERS TO HIMSELF

Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. (12:8)

Faced with this demonic work in Corinth that brought him intense pain, Paul went for help to the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (1:3–4). He did not seek a quick fix to his problem through some technique devised by human wisdom. Nor did he attempt to bind Satan or cast out the demons assaulting the Corinthian church. Paul followed the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, in His time of intense suffering in Gethsemane, also appealed three times to God to deliver Him (Matt. 26:36–44). Paul drew near to God in the intensity of his pain. That is the most blessed place a believer can be, though we usually do not feel as compelled to be near Him if we are not suffering.

Implored translates a form of the verb parakale?, which is frequently used in the Gospels by those appealing to Jesus for healing (Matt. 8:5; 14:36; Mark 1:40; 5:23; 6:56; 7:32; 8:22; Luke 7:4; 8:41). Paul was a model of persistence in prayer (cf. Gen. 18:23–32; Matt. 15:22–28; Luke 11:5–10; 18:1; Col. 4:12) as he pleaded with the Lord three times that the thorn might leave him. Though God did not remove Paul’s pain, that does not mean that he did not answer Paul’s prayer; the answer was simply different from what the apostle had asked for.

GOD USES SUFFERING TO DISPLAY HIS GRACE

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,” (12:9a)

Paul’s three requests for relief resulted in the same answer from the Lord. Each time He did not answer by removing Paul’s pain, because, as noted above, that pain was spiritually productive. It revealed Paul’s true character, kept him humble, and drew him intimately in prayer to God. The Lord granted Paul relief not by removing his suffering but by giving him grace sufficient to endure it.

The magnificent, rich term charis (grace) appears 155 times in the New Testament. Grace describes God’s undeserved favor to man kind. It is a dynamic force, totally transforming believers’ lives, beginning at salvation (Acts 15:11; 18:27; Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7; 2:5, 8; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 2:11; 3:7) and continuing through sanctification (2 Peter 3:18) to glorification (Eph. 2:7). Grace sets the Christian faith apart from all other religions. God is gracious, benevolent, and kind, in contrast to the gods of false religions, who are at best indifferent and need constantly to be cajoled and appeased.

The Bible teaches that believers “have all received … grace upon grace” through the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:16), since “grace and truth were realized through” Him (John 1:17) and He, as God incarnate, is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Thus, Luke, writing of the early Christians, said that “abundant grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33); Paul wrote of the “grace in which we stand” (Rom. 5:2); James spoke of grace that is greater than sin’s power (James 4:6; cf. Rom. 5:20); and Peter described the “manifold [multifaceted] grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). No wonder Paul called it the “surpassing grace of God in [believers]” (2 Cor. 9:14), and was confident that “God is able to make all grace abound to [believers], so that always having all sufficiency in everything, [they] may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Cor. 9:8).

Sadly, many evangelical churches today deny in practice the sufficiency of God’s grace for all of life’s problems, supplementing it with the humanistic theories of psychology. The idea that the grace of God is sufficient for even the most serious issues believers may face is derided as antiquated, simplistic, and naïve, like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. It is suggested by so-called Christian psychologists that divine grace may be sufficient for solving shallow problems, but deeper issues require therapy.

That raises some troubling questions. If God’s Word does not have the answers to all of life’s problems, how can it be perfect, able to totally transform the soul (Ps. 19:7–11)? Was Paul mistaken when he wrote under divine inspiration, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17; italics added)? Why does the “wisdom from above” (James 3:17) need to be supplemented by the foolishness of human wisdom (1 Cor. 1:20–21; 2:5; 3:19)? If believers are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10) and have been granted in Him “everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3; italics added), what more do they need? When Paul said, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13; italics added), did he have in mind only superficial, minor issues? Was he mistaken when he wrote, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5)? Does God, who “knows the secrets of the heart” (Ps. 44:21), need the insights of humanistic psychology in order to fully understand people’s problems? Is “the word of God” really “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword … piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12)? If it is an essential tool for removing the barriers to sanctification, how were God’s people sanctified before the advent of psychology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? What a tragic delusion for God’s people to imagine that the answers to life’s problems lie outside of His all-sufficient and unbounded grace. (I discuss the sufficiency of God’s grace at length in my book, Our Sufficiency in Christ [Dallas: Word, 1991].)

When God declared to Paul in answer to his prayer, “My grace is sufficient for you,” He affirmed the total sufficiency of His grace for every need in life—to believe the gospel; to understand and apply the Word to all the issues of life; to overcome sin and temptation; to endure suffering, disappointment, and pain; to obey God; to serve Him effectively; and to worship Him. God’s grace was sufficient for the deepest pain Paul (or any other believer) could ever experience.

The comforting truth is that “no temptation has overtaken [believers] but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow [them] to be tempted beyond what [they] are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that [they] will be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). The way of escape is the way of endurance in grace. The writer of Hebrews urged suffering believers to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that [they] may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). Deuteronomy 33:26 reminds believers, “There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your help, and through the skies in His majesty.” God’s promise of His strengthening presence to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9) applies to all believers, as does His promise to Israel:

But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.” (Isa. 43:1–2)

If God’s grace was “more than abundant” to save Paul (1 Tim. 1:14), it was certainly sufficient to strengthen him in any subsequent trial he faced.

The following anecdote from my book Our Sufficiency in Christ illustrates the sufficiency of God’s grace:

The story is told of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who was riding home one evening after a heavy day’s work, feeling weary and depressed, when the verse came to mind, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

In his mind he immediately compared himself to a little fish in the Thames River, apprehensive lest drinking so many pints of water in the river each day he might drink the Thames dry. Then Father Thames says to him, “Drink away, little fish. My stream is sufficient for you.”

Next he thought of a little mouse in the granaries of Egypt, afraid lest its daily nibbles exhaust the supplies and cause it to starve to death.

Then Joseph comes along and says, “Cheer up, little mouse. My granaries are sufficient for you.”

Then he thought of a man climbing some high mountain to reach its lofty summit and dreading lest his breathing there might exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere. The Creator booms His voice out of heaven, saying, “Breathe away, oh man, and fill your lungs. My atmosphere is sufficient for you!” (pp. 256–57)

GOD USES SUFFERING TO PERFECT HIS POWER

“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. (12:9b–10)

God not only wanted to display His grace in Paul’s life, but also His power; He not only wanted the apostle to be humble, but also strong. Because “power is perfected in weakness,” it was necessary for the fires of affliction to burn away the dross of pride and self-confidence. Paul had lost all ability, humanly speaking, to deal with the situation at Corinth. He had visited there, sent others there, and written the Corinthians letters. But he could not completely fix the situation. He was at the point when he had to trust totally in God’s will and power.

It is when believers are out of answers, confidence, and strength, with nowhere else to turn but to God that they are in a position to be most effective. No one in the kingdom of God is too weak to experience God’s power, but many are too confident in their own strength. Physical suffering, mental anguish, disappointment, unfulfillment, and failure squeeze the impurities out of believers’ lives, making them pure channels through which God’s power can flow.

Though his circumstances had not changed, Paul could still exclaim, Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. In 1 Corinthians 1:27 he reminded the Corinthians that “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” The apostle himself had ministered among the Corinthians “in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3). Paul’s weakness was not self-induced or artificial; it was not a superficial psychological self-esteem game he played with himself. It was real and God-given. He did not love the pain caused by the false apostles, knowing it was satanic in origin. Yet he embraced it as the means by which God released His power through him.

Verse 10 summarizes the truth of this passage. Eudoke? (well content) could be translated, “pleased,” or “delighted.” He was thrilled with the weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions, and difficulties he endured for Christ’s sake, not because he was a masochist, but because when he was weak, then he was strong.

Having a proper perspective on trouble, trials, and suffering is the cornerstone of Christian living. Focusing all one’s efforts on removing difficulties is not the answer. Believers need to embrace the trials God allows them to undergo, knowing that those trials reveal their character, humble them, draw them closer to God, and allow Him to display His grace and power in their lives. They should heed the counsel of apostle James to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4).