HELPING US TO STAY HUMBLE

One very important revelation that we must not play with concerning certain afflictions, is the one given by the Father Himself to Apostle Paul, concerning a particular problem that he encountered in his life.
In the Book of Second Corinthians, chapter 12, and verses 6 to 9, Apostle Paul tells us why he could not be proud, or glory in himself, or receive glory from others, although, he might have been tempted to do so, 2Cor 6-9:

6 “For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth; but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of 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.
8 For this thing, I be sought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
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.
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 I am strong”.

There is such a profound revelation of truth that is hidden in the above scriptures. Apostle Paul started by telling us how that he was taken to the third heaven and he heard unspeakable words.
Then he said that because of the abundance of revelations given him, people could be tempted to hail him as some great one. In other words, there was that temptation for him to be given and for him to trey to receive, the glory that was due to God. Then, he lets us into a deep truth: God still remembers how that the devil that he made and anointed was brought down. The same anointing that was given to him, made him proud, and he tried to equate himself with God, and that led to his undoing.
This same devil sends his servants, the demons, witches, wizards to torment, or afflict the servants of God. Think about the smearing of the image of servants of God by these people or agents, sometimes, they even cause afflictions of the body, or divisions between friends and so on and so forth.
It is a natural thing for the servants of God to defeat, and cast out the agents of Satan with ease, and stop their evil work, however in this case, Paul the Apostle tells us a different story. He prayed and asked the Lord three times to remove this affliction from him, but the Lord replied him in the negative. The Lord made it clear to him that the reason for allowing his affliction to stay, was to prevent him from being exalted above measure. The revelations he had, could make someone feel like a God.
There is a very important lesson, for some of our highly anointed ministers to learn today. The healing miracles, amazing prophecies, mighty structures and buildings, connections in government, and in various nations of the World, can actually get into somebody’s head.
Most especially, these things can make some carnal preachers to begin to despise, others who are not as gifted, as rich, or as connected as they are, and this alone accounts for many of the persecutions and troubles of many.
Many times when these types of attitude are checked, they lead, God himself, will allow some of the arrows of the enemy to humble the proud.
However, I will like to add here, that any believer, who is not yet walking in the kinds of revelation that Apostle Paul walked in (remember that he wrote two-thirds of the New Testament), should not claim that his affliction has refused to go, so as to make him humble.