Exposing Satan's Playbook The Perry Stone

patience whisper, “Hold on; God will work it all out.” In the struggle with our spiritual adversary, patience is a very important virtue. The attacks of Satan are assigned in seasons and will expire at certain times, based upon the reaction, response, and scriptural knowledge of the believer. When a believer exercises patience during a test, the ability to endure testing for an extended season enables a believer to outlast the opposing attack, as the adversary does not have the patience to endure beyond a certain season. This is what Paul meant when he said, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment” (2 Cor. 4:17). The enemy’s success is gained from a hit-and-run strategy. He hits and retreats, hits and retreats, and hits again—all to wear you down. When Paul spoke of having a “thorn in the flesh . . . a messenger of Satan” coming against his ministry, he stated this satanic agent was “buffeting” him (2 Cor. 12:7). The Greek word for “buffet” is kolaphizo and means to steadily beat with the fist, or to take one hit after another hit and one blow after another. There is an implication in this word of a person who is knocked down, gets up and is knocked down, gets up again and is knocked down again in a repeated cycle of “ups and downs.” This “thorn in the flesh” was a satanic messenger that motivated people in cities where Paul ministered to verbally, physically, and publicly come against Paul, creating difficulty for him in his regional ministry and Asian journeys. Paul wrote a list of opposition he faced in 2 Corinthians 11:23–27: . . . in stripes above measure, in prisons more