God allowed Paul’s
“thorn in the flesh” to remain in His life, even though Paul asked God to
remove it. Instead of releasing Paul from His “thorn,” God said, “My grace is
sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”
This is wonderful
assurance. No matter what our thorn in the flesh might be, God will give us
grace and strength. We will not be defeated by the thorn. God will sustain us
in spite of the difficulties that remain in our lives.
But why did Paul have
to have a thorn in the flesh? Why didn’t God make His life a little less
problem-laden and just remove the thorn?
The answer is found in
II Corinthians 12:7. Paul wrote, “…there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”
There it is. The
reason why God sometimes allows thorns in our lives, thorns which irritate and
remind us that they are there, poking and prodding us as we try to maintain a
comfortable, problem-free existence. God places a high priority on humility. “…lest I should be exalted above measure.”
If we glory, we should
glory in the Lord. If we are lifted up, it should be God that does the lifting,
not us. Sometimes we need thorns in our lives to remind us that we need God,
His grace and His strength. Otherwise, we might resort to self-sufficiency. In
His infinite love and concern, God thinks enough of His children to allow
trials to remain in our lives when we would prefer them to disappear.
“…lest I should be exalted above measure.” Adversity is intended to
remind us of our need of God and keep us dependant on Him. It keeps us from
exalting ourselves and our own abilities. What an amazing, loving God. He is
kind enough to us to allow things in our lives that are painful, yet healing,
for they keep our focus on Him, the only source of an unlimited supply of grace
and strength.
If you still cannot make sense of the purpose of a thorn in your flesh, glance backward 2,000 years. Let your mind travel to Jerusalem and a certain gruesome crucifixion site. There you will see someone else acquainted with thorns in his flesh. He was a king…The King.
Rose Thorns Photo: http://coraramos-cora.blogspot.com/2012/01/not-all-thorns-are-scary-but-they-still.html
Crown of Thorns Photo: http://wissmanns.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html
If you still cannot make sense of the purpose of a thorn in your flesh, glance backward 2,000 years. Let your mind travel to Jerusalem and a certain gruesome crucifixion site. There you will see someone else acquainted with thorns in his flesh. He was a king…The King.
This King wore a
crown, not made of jewels…but of thorns. He understands the pain that thorns
produce. But His purpose was greater than His pain.
“…lest I should be
exalted above measure.”
Crown of Thorns Photo: http://wissmanns.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html
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