The terms thorn in the flesh or “thorn in the side” are always used as an illustration in the Bible. For example, the Lord told Moses that if the Israelites did not drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, they would become “pricks in [their] eyes, and thorns in [their] sides…” (Numbers 33:55). The Canaanites were not sticking into the Israelites’ sides! This is just an illustration.

Today, we still use the term “a thorn in the flesh.” Your neighbor might be a “thorn” in your side. In the same way we say, “That guy is a pain in the neck.” Tradition says this thorn in the flesh was something in Paul’s flesh, but 2 Corinthians 12:7 is the same type of illustration. Weymouth’s translation of this verse says, “There was given me a thorn in the flesh, Satan’s angel to torture me.” This evil spirit was assigned to Paul in order to stop the Word. Jesus said in Mark 4 that Satan comes immediately to steal the Word. Paul was having to stand against this evil spirit everywhere he went. 

Satan came to buffet Paul because of the abundance of revelations he received. Paul had been given the revelation of the authority of the believer, and Satan came to steal the Word. Paul sought the Lord three times that he might be rid of him. It is useless to ask God to get rid of the devil for you. Paul had authority over Satan. It was up to him to use that authority. The Bible says, “…Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). God won’t resist the devil for you. You have to do it. If you don’t cast out the devil, you will just have to live with him or get somebody else to help you get rid of him.

When Paul asked God to do something about this messenger of Satan, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for thee…” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Tradition reads that as if he asked the Lord to deliver him and the Lord said no. Therefore, Paul had to endure the thorn forever. The Bible actually says, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” God was saying, “My favor is enough. You have authority. You have the Name of Jesus and when you’re humanly weak, My strength or My power is made perfect.”

We can see an excellent example of this in Acts 14, when Paul was stoned. He was dead, but the disciples gathered around him, prayed and the Lord raised him up. It was humanly impossible for him to do anything. In his own strength he had no ability to overcome. But when he was humanly weak, the power of God was strong.

In 2 Corinthians 12:10, Paul wrote, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake….” Let’s look over these words. Infirmity means “want of strength, weakness, indicating inability to produce results.” It does not mean sickness. It means what the Lord said: “When your strength ends, My power is made perfect.” The other things mentioned here—reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses—are the buffetings Paul lists in 2 Corinthians 11. He was imprisoned, stoned, beaten, shipwrecked and attacked by angry mobs. Sickness is not mentioned.

We have heard a lot about trials and tribulations that came on Paul, but tradition forgets to mention that Satan’s angel could gain no victory over Paul through adverse circumstances. Paul lived to be an old man. When it was time for him to go, he said he didn’t know whether he wanted to stay or depart (Philippians 1:20-26). Paul did not go home to be with the Lord until he and the Lord were ready. He was a victorious Christian. He wrote most of the New Testament. He traveled throughout the known world. Satan’s angel never could stop the Word of God from going forth.

Gloria Copeland