Why does God allow infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses? That’s a loaded question, but I’d like to discuss just one of the many reasons.

2 Corinthians 12:9 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.

This verse is often a comfort to believers who are going through some kind of adversity. God is applying a broad and fundamental principle to the context of this verse. God’s strength is always made perfect in the weakness of a believer, no matter what the cause of the weakness is. In this case, Paul’s weakness is caused by a messenger of Satan. It’s unclear to me after examining the Greek whether this specifically refers to the evil spirit called Satan, an adversary other than Satan himself, or whether it’s a broad term that could mean both, since the Greek word translated “Satan” in the above verse, Strong’s Greek 4566, is only found once in the New Testament. There’s a similar word that is more definitive, and it’s the next Strong’s Greek root, Strong’s Greek 4567. This root is translated “Satan every time,” and most times clearly refers to the devil. In 2 Corinthians 12:7, the word is harder to define, so I looked up “thorn”, and I found that this root was also unique to this verse. Then I looked up “buffet”, which is Strong’s Greek 2852. The actual Greek words in the 5 verses that contain this root are different forms of the same thing. Some are nouns and some are verbs. As far as I can tell, this is the only difference, so I feel safe simply looking at the 5 verses broadly, with attention to the root for the sake of brevity. If anyone finds that a more narrow examination yields a different conclusion than the one set forth in this post, I’d be happy to hear about it. Here are the 5 passages. The Strong’s number appears immediately after the corresponding English translation.

Matthew 26:67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted <2852> him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
Mark 14:65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet <2852> him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.
1 Corinthians 4:11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted <2852>, and have no certain dwellingplace;
2 Corinthians 12:7 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 <2852> me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
1 Peter 2:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted <2852> for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

Buffeting is specifically a reference to persecution for the preaching of the Gospel. Jesus was being buffeted for preaching the Gospel. That was what irritated the religious leaders of that time enough to want Him killed. Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about being buffeted in his travels and those of others while executing his occupation of preaching the Gospel. We know that Paul himself was certainly buffeted for preaching in the name of Jesus. Peter penned an admonition from God to let us know that being patient when buffeted for doing well is what God finds acceptable. The context of that verse is also preaching the Gospel, because it refers to the example of wrongful suffering for conscience toward God that Jesus gave us to follow.

2 Corinthians 12:7 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.

Paul was referring in this chapter to revelations that were received by a man who was caught up into the third heaven and heard things that were not lawful for a man to utter. Paul heard them too, because he witnessed this encounter. They must have been revelations that were too amazing/shocking/wonderful/incomprehensible/righteous, etc., to be lawfully repeated by any man. God allowed this buffeting from a messenger of Satan to keep Paul humble by causing his weakness, lest, as Paul penned, he be exalted above measure. In this weakness, this humbling process, Paul and other Christians will consequently rely on God’s strength. It’s very painful to preach the Gospel and be hated for it. It’s sad because a believer knows it’s the truth, yet others don’t want to hear it and hate the message, and this has eternally awful consequences. Jesus experienced this also. Of course, Jesus has no potential to become prideful. He endured persecution for an example to us to rely on the strength of God and not our own strength. I believe that persecutions are allowed by God to keep a believer humble in the face of learning wonderful things from God’s Word, to keep me from thinking myself stronger than I am because I am able to learn things from God’s Word that only God teaches in the first place. This buffeting is painful, so it weakens me, and God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness.

I also believe that this applies to other forms of adversity. The difficult things in our lives keep us humble. If everything always goes well, there is a danger of forgetting God and being lifted up with pride. God warns about this.

“And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good [things], which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; [Then] beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12 AV)

This is a comforting lesson for me. It’s the way things have to be in this age while we still dwell in flesh. God said there would be no more pain when He brings all believers to heaven at the end of this age. Therefore, we can be sure that we won’t have this capacity to forget Him when things go well, since things will always be well.

2 Corinthians 12:10 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.