"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. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2nd Corinthians 12: 7-10 ESV
The word "thorn" is defined as a source of discomfort, annoyance, or difficulty; an irritation or an obstacle. Thorns are a painful part of nature but a necessary one. It is how we chose to use them that can make or break who we are.
In our culture, we are taught at an early age that we need to hide our weaknesses and highlight our strengths. We aren't taught to embrace our limitations and if we are honest with ourselves, we are embarrassed by them. We refuse to recognize them or give them any sort of credence in our lives. To give them any sort of recognition would be to admit complete failure.
Have you ever been put in a place where you had to admit that you didn't have what it takes? That you didn't have all the answers? That you couldn't go any further? If you have had to admit any of these things I can assume that it was a painful experience. If you haven't had to yet, just be patient because you will. But I can tell you that if you have had a moment like I just described, while painful, it has a chance to be used as a powerful weapon in God's arsenal in the battle against our enemy.
It is only through grace that we can celebrate our weaknesses the same way that Paul spoke about in the passage above. When I recognize my weakness, God will open up the floodgates like a dam after a huge rain and allow His grace to wash down over me. And when His grace pours over my life it gives me opportunities to show others Christ's strength in my weakness.
I have found that the more I admit my weaknesses the greater my opportunities to experience the life changing power that God supplies. But this doesn't come natural to me and I can almost assure you that it won't for you either. More times than not, we are the last ones that can identify our weak areas. It is easy to admit when you make a small, minute mistake but what about when you fail on a large scale. It is only when we can pinpoint the areas where we don't have what it takes and be deliberate about asking God for His help. That is the area where His grace and His power will come in great abundance.
While Paul accepted his "thorn," he also asked God to remove them from him. Three times Paul asked God and three time God told him that he needed only rely on His grace and His power. Eventually Paul learned to lean on God and His power. God wanted Paul to understand that through his human weakness that He could and would still be glorified. The apostle Paul learned not only to give notice to his weakness but he also learned to thrive in them. But what about this "thorn" of his? I have heard more than one pastor and Bible scholar give their opinion on what Paul's thorn was. Some say he suffered with a physical ailment like epilepsy or that his vision was bordering on blindness but whatever it was he knew God would be all the more glorified through it. Paul discovered that God's grace was all the greater because of it.
In 2nd Corinthians 1:8 Paul tells us, "For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself." Why would God allow this sort of thing to happen to Paul and his companions? God allowed these events to happen so that Paul would realize that he could not do the job that God had given him on his own. He needed the power supplied from God. He was honest enough with himself to realize that in his own power he would fail, that his only chance for success would be while working through the power of Christ. God's power is attracted to weakness. It is through weakness that God can really show up and show out in our lives.
Paul's thorn helped him realize that he was able to receive God's grace and power only to the limit in which he recognized his own need for it. It was through admitting his weakness that he found real peace in his situation. It is when we give light to our weakness that God's presence and power really starts to show up in our lives.
Our culture loves strength and I don't that it will change anytime soon but I do have a few questions for you to answer:
- Where do you find your strength?
- How much strength is enough?
I have struggled my whole adult life with understanding where my strength really comes from. When I was in my early to mid twenties it was my physical strength that made me who I was. Then in my late twenties and early thirties it was my mental toughness. While both are great attributes to have, I realized a few years ago when my wife passed away that those things don't amount to much in the strength that can be found when we totally rely on God. And I don't mean just relying on His guidance and wisdom but just relying on His power to get you out of the bed in the morning. Relying on God's power to go to work or to make it to church on Sunday. God wants every one of His children to find strength and power in Him.
All throughout the Bible, men of God struggled with their "thorns." Don't believe me? What about these folks:
Noah was a drunk, Abraham was an old man, Issac was a daydreamer, Jacob was a liar, Joseph was abused, Moses had a speech problem, Gideon was scared to death, Samson had hair that was too long and like women a little too much, Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah was too young, David was a murderer and had an affair, Elijah was suicidal, Isaiah preached in the nude, Jonah ran away from God, Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt, Peter denied who Christ was to him, the Disciples couldn't stay awake when it counted, Martha worried about everything and everyone, Zaccheus was way too short, and Lazarus was dead.
Every one of these people had something that could have stopped them from being used by God if they had relied simply on their own power. But God told them the same thing He tells each one of us, "I am with you, ALWAYS!" The weaker we are the more strength God will pour into us. We will never be in a better spot to accept God's strength than when we come to the point we know we don't have what it takes to do it alone.
Noah was a drunk, Abraham was an old man, Issac was a daydreamer, Jacob was a liar, Joseph was abused, Moses had a speech problem, Gideon was scared to death, Samson had hair that was too long and like women a little too much, Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah was too young, David was a murderer and had an affair, Elijah was suicidal, Isaiah preached in the nude, Jonah ran away from God, Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt, Peter denied who Christ was to him, the Disciples couldn't stay awake when it counted, Martha worried about everything and everyone, Zaccheus was way too short, and Lazarus was dead.
Every one of these people had something that could have stopped them from being used by God if they had relied simply on their own power. But God told them the same thing He tells each one of us, "I am with you, ALWAYS!" The weaker we are the more strength God will pour into us. We will never be in a better spot to accept God's strength than when we come to the point we know we don't have what it takes to do it alone.
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