Whispers of His Power – FEBRUARY 26
2 Cor. 12.7: A thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan.
Job 1.12: The Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power.
Job 2.5: [Satan said Put forth THINE hand now.
Job 2.6: And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold he is in thine hand.
Job 2.7: So Satan… smote Job.
Luke 22.53: This is your hour, and the power of darkness.
2 Cor. 12.7: There was given to me a thorn in the flesh.
Job 23.10: When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Luke 22.42: Father, if Thou be willing… nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.
As a child I puzzled over the fact that though all Christian people spoke of pain as sent from God they did all that in them lay to avoid it, or if it came, to get rid of it. Doctors who helped them to do so were prayed for as very special servants of God. And yet they were working against the very thing that God had sent.
It was all very puzzling, and I can remember the delight of finding the words, An enemy hath done this(Matt. 13.28), and feeling that they must apply to all that hurt and wounded either spirit or body. And yet there was a mystery somewhere. And it was not explained.
I think now that it never will be explained until we stand in the light of God; but these words from Paul and Job and our Lord’s own prayer help us to understand.
All pain, all ill, is a messenger from Satan, and yet the thorn was a gift. The Spirit of God takes care to let us know that it was Satan’s hand, not the Father’s, that hurt Job. And yet that cruel hand was turned into a crucible, and the fire refined the gold. The power of darkness crucified the Lord of glory. But Love won on Calvary.
oooOOOooo
These words are from ’Whispers of His Power’ a collection of writings that Amy Carmichael wrote for her ‘children’ and others associated with the Dohnavur Fellowship. and are Copyright © The Dohnavur Fellowship 1982
Unless otherwise stated, biblical quotations are from the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.
The following abbreviations are used to refer to other versions and sources:
BCP: Book of Common Prayer, the Great Bible of Coverdale
Conybeare: W. J. Conybeare, The Epistles of Paul (a translation)
Delitzsch: F. Delitzsch, Notes on Job and the Psalms
Kay: W. Kay, The Psalms (a translation)
LXX: The Septuagint
Moffatt: J. Moffatt, The New Testament: a new translation
Rotherham: J. B. Rotherham, The Emphasized Bible Revised Version
RV: Revised Version
Way: A. Way, The Letters of St Paul (a translation)
Westcott: F. Westcott, Notes on the Gospel of St John
Weymouth: R. F. Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech
Young: R. Young, A Literal Translation of the Bible
Verses of poetry without quotation marks were written by Amy Carmichael.
Suffolk Vicar 