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God’s Promises And Your Thorn In
The Flesh
God’s
Enduring Promise When You Face a Thorn in Your Flesh
BEN GODWIN
Jesus
never promised us trouble-free living.
In fact, He predicted the opposite—"I have
told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will
have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world"
(John 16:33).
The psalmist added another dose of reality, "Many
are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them
all" (Psalm 34:19).
Believe
it or not, we need our problems to help us learn, grow, mature and become
stronger. Otherwise, we'd get complacent.
Paul Evans said, "Adversity
is God's university."
How
true! It's the hardships we face that teach us the nature of God and allow our
faith to grow.
How
could we know God is a healer if we were never sick?
How
could we know Him as our provider if we never had a need?
How
could we know Him as a Comforter if we never experienced loneliness or grief?
How
could we know Him as a Savior if we were never lost?
Without
a battle there is no victory and without a test there is no testimony!
o
Paul's Personal Problem:
"And lest I should be exalted above measure . . . a
thorn in the flesh was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment
me" (2 Cor. 12:7).
Nelson's
Bible Dictionary informs us the Greek word translated "thorn" may be
used to refer to a stake on which a person could be impaled.
So
Paul compared his problem to something sharp that continually pricked him.
Here's
the million-dollar question, what was Paul's thorn in the flesh?
He
intentionally left it vague and, as a result, preachers have speculated about
it for over 1900 years.
Some
suggestions are so absurd they're not worth mentioning but consider six
possibilities:
1.
Guilt: Some suggest that Paul battled intense guilt and
haunting memories of how he persecuted Christians prior to his conversion (Acts 7:58; 8:1-3; 9:1; 22:20).
Paul, we know, was a fanatical, religious zealot who
instigated Stephen's stoning and imprisoned and wanted to execute other
believers.
He wrote in retrospect, "For I am the least of the
apostles and am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the
church of God" (1 Cor.
15:9).
2.
Temptation: Some say Paul's thorn was a battle with lust, a
desire for female companionship, due to being single.
As a former Pharisee, he may have been married at one
time (Acts 23:6).
Some believe Paul was a widower. (How else could he
offer so much sound marital advice unless he had some personal experience?)
Regarding temptation he wrote, "Let him who thinks he
stands take heed, lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).
So he definitely didn't feel he was above carnal
cravings.
3.
Physical
Infirmities: In the context of describing
his thorn, Paul used the word "infirmities" three times (2 Corinthians 12:5, 9, 10, NKJV), a term usually associated with sickness.
He hinted that he had some kind of embarrassing eye
disorder (Galatians 4:13-15; 6:11).
Luke, the beloved physician, often traveled with him and
may have treated him for various ailments.
4.
Persecution: In nearly every city Paul preached, he either had
a revival, a riot or both.
In many places he was hounded by enemies, skeptics,
Judaizers and false apostles.
He catalogued his battle scars in 2 Corinthians
11:23-28:
- five times he was beaten with whips (39 stripes each),
- three times he was beaten with rods,
- once he was stoned,
- three times he survived shipwreck.
In addition to physical suffering, he also carried the
heavy spiritual burden of the churches he planted and pastored.
5.
A Messenger
of Satan: One version describes this
as "one of Satan's
angels" that was sent to harass him.
Paul had spiritual insight few others had. God used him
in phenomenal ways (soul-winning, miracles, deliverance, writing, preaching,
establishing churches and so on).
Paul, second only to Christ Himself, was the most
influential person in church history.
When God uses someone to that degree, pride is always a
possibility.
So God allowed some kind of demonic influence to torment
him, keeping him grounded and on his knees.
6.
The
Corinthian Church: There is a joke among
scholars that this church was Paul's thorn because of all the stress it gave
him.
Some of the issues Paul dealt with in the Corinthian
Church were sexual sin (incest), personality cults, division, carnality, false
doctrine, believers suing other believers, improper observance of Communion and
the disorderly use of spiritual gifts and so on.
The
list goes on and on of other possible "thorns."
The
truth is we don't know precisely what Paul's problem was because he didn't
specifically say.
We
do know it was allowed to persist to keep him humble.
o
Paul's Persistent Prayer:
So
what did Paul do about his problem?
He did what we usually do—he asked God to remove it! "I
asked the Lord three times that this thing might depart from me" (2 Corinthians 12:8).
Paul
prayed specifically, earnestly and repeatedly for God to remove the source of
irritation.
But
sometimes our problems serve a higher purpose that we are not even aware of.
Pity
would have us tear open a cocoon to release a struggling butterfly, not realizing
that the struggle of breaking out helps its wings develop so it can fly.
o
God's Powerful Promise:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is
made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
God's
grace to endure the trial is greater than the trial itself.
You
see, grace is not only unmerited love and favor, it is also divine ability to
deal with our problems.
So
grace is the good will of God (favor) toward you and the good work of God (ability)
in you.
So
what is your thorn?
God
may not remove it immediately, but He will grant you the grace to endure and
overcome it.
Then we can all say along with Paul, "For
when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10b).
Ben Godwin is
the author of four books and pastors the Goodsprings Full Gospel Church. To
read more articles, visit his website at bengodwin.org and
take advantage of his 4-book bundle for $25.
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