To Encourage You

2 Corinthians 12:7 “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.”

If you are a Christian, are you one in which everything in life is wonderful?  Do you have any problems? Do you have anything going on in your life that you’d really rather not deal with, or is all well?  When someone asks you “How’s it going?” is your answer usually – “It’s going great!” Well, if it’s not, then you’re not alone, as we see in the passage above in the words of the apostle Paul. Here was a man uniquely chosen by God to take the message of the gospel to the Gentile world. It was a great and glorious mission. He had seen the glorified Jesus with his own eyes.  He was called to write a major portion of the New Testament for the benefit of all Christians everywhere for over 2,000 years and counting.  And he experienced some amazing spiritual experiences, such as receiving a vision of heaven.  It was that vision that he was referring to when he spoke of “the surpassing greatness of the revelations.”  But then, Paul tells us about his “thorn in the flesh.” We don’t really know what it was, for he doesn’t tell us, other than that it was “a messenger of Satan” to harass him.  Whatever it was, it plagued him continually, for he later says that he prayed three times for deliverance from it, but God said “no, my grace is sufficient for you.” 

But notice that he says that the thorn “was given” to him.  In other words, it was a gift.  Though it was a “bad” thing in one sense, it was a very good thing in another.  In fact, it was better for Paul that he had this than if he did not, for its effect was to keep him humble, to prevent him from becoming conceited because of all the great things God was doing in and through his life.  That’s the way it is with all believers as God sovereignly works in their lives. He has told us that he is working to bring the good work He began in our lives at the moment of salvation to completion as we walk and grow in Him (Philippians 1:6). He has told us that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  And we can be certain, because God does not lie, that “all things” means “all things,” including the thorns that may plague our lives.  It is often those things, those difficult things that we would rather do without, that God uses to drive us to rely on Him, depend on Him, learn from Him, and be used by Him in ways that would otherwise not be possible. Often it is the difficult things that God uses to produce those character traits in our lives that reflect His nature, things like compassion, grace, love, and mercy.  As we suffer difficult things, it gives us a heart for others who may be suffering the same things. These trials soften us so that we can humbly and sincerely lift others up, for we know what it is to be where they are. 

May God help us to see the thorns in our lives as gifts of God’s grace. They are not aberrations in the Christian life. They are necessary things that God in His grace will give us strength to endure, as we trust Him and lean on Him each moment of every day.  And that’s just it – it’s His strength that is revealed so often in our weakness, one of the many paradoxes of the Spirit-led life.