Have you ever felt pulled in all directions – by life’s demands, distractions, or temptations? Let’s take a look at this artwork by Martin Schongauer, Saint Anthony Abbot Tempted by Demons (c. 1470-1480). Anthony's biographer, Athanasius, describes the later stages of the devil’s temptation as a physical attack by demons masquerading as wild animals: “Anthony, beaten and mauled, experienced even more atrocious pains in his body but he remained unafraid, his mind alert.” At the end, the weary Anthony cries out to the Lord, “Where were you, good Jesus? Where were you? Why were you not here from the beginning to heal my wounds?” A voice answers, “Anthony, I was here, but I was waiting to watch your struggle.” Like Anthony, we are not immune to life’s temptations. And like Anthony, we may ask, “Where were you, God? Why didn’t you help me from the beginning?” Paul, in Today’s scripture, wrestles with the same questions. He was a faithful servant of Christ, but he was not immune to life’s hardships. He was imprisoned, flogged, beaten, shipwrecked, stoned. He faced danger from robbers, enemies, his own people, the wilderness, and the sea. On top of this, he carried the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. And then there was the “thorn in his body,” a messenger from Satan that caused him ongoing physical agony. Paul was in constant suffering. Then, where was God in all this? Why didn’t He come and help right away?
