A THORN IN THE FLESH

PROCLAMATION

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with The Lord to take it away from me.  But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’”  2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth.  Paul begins this chapter defending his apostleship by boasting about the vision he was favored with. (2 Corinthians 12:1-5)  Then he states that in order to prevent him from being filled with pride and vanity, he was given a physical ailment which grieved him.  Paul asked The Lord God to remove it but the answer to his prayer was ‘no’.  God told Paul that His grace was sufficient to help him endure it.

 

APPLICATION

The Lord God hears our prayers. (1 Peter 3:12)  Sometimes we do not get what we ask for because His answer to us is “no”.  That could be because He has something better planned for us, or because we asked for things which do not glorify God. (John 14:13)  There are times when He allows things to happen to us in order to get our attention.  We tend to pray really hard when times are bad.  We need to acknowledge Him all of the time and in all things, good and bad. (Proverbs 3:6)  We even need to see the silver lining in every storm cloud. (James 1:2)  Bad things which happen to us can work out for our good. (Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28)  In all things, we should give God glory.  His grace is sufficient for us.  His power can be revealed through our weakness.  Sometimes we need a thon in our flesh to cause us to focus on Him.

 

SOMETIMES WE NEED A THORN IN OUR FLESH TO KEEP US GROUNDED

Proclamation:

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with The Lord to take it away from me.  But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’”  2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth.  Paul begins this chapter defending his apostleship by boasting about the vision he was favored with. (2 Corinthians 12:1-5)  Then he states that in order to prevent him from being filled with pride and vanity, he was given a physical ailment which grieved him.  Paul asked The Lord God to remove it but the answer to his prayer was ‘no’.

Application:

The Lord God hears our prayers. (1 Peter 3:12)  Sometimes we do not get what we ask for because His answer to us is “no”.  Sometimes we ask for things which do not glorify God. (John 14:13)  There are times when He allows things to happen to us in order to get our attention.  We need to acknowledge Him in all things. (Proverbs 3:6)  We even need to see the silver lining in every storm cloud. (James 1:2)  Bad things which happen to us can work out for our good. (Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28)  In all things, we should give God glory.  His grace is sufficient for us.  His power can be revealed though our weakness.

GOD'S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT

Proclamation:

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with The Lord to take it away from me.  But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”  2 Corinthians 12:7-9

 Explanation:

While defending himself to the false teachers, false prophets, and false apostles, the Apostle Paul said that he could boast about a number of things but refused to do so.  Under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, he chose to boast about The Lord.  In order to keep him humble, Paul said that he was given “a thorn” in his flesh.  The exact nature of the thorn was not identified.  Whether it was a physical ailment, a great trouble or temptation, the devil meant it to take Paul down but God used it to keep him grounded and from thinking to highly of himself.  Paul asked The Lord three times to remove it but He said that His grace would help Paul to deal with it. 

Application:

Sometimes life throws us a curve.  When times are tough and things go wrong, we should not give up or get mad.  We should remember that The Lord said, "My grace is sufficient ..." (2 Corinthians 12:9)  If He brought us to it, He can bring us through it.  The Lord God’s power is demonstrated during our weakness.  All things happen for a reason and even “bad things” can be used for our benefit. (Romans 8:28)  Some things are just tests which can strengthen us. (James 1:3-4)  So, even when life bring us trials and tribulations we should be joyful and count them as a good thing which is preparing us for something better. (James 1:2)  Each of us is still a work in progress.  As with the thorn in Paul's flesh and the trials of James, God is working on us and He is not through with us yet.  So count it all as joy and know that God is always with us. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

GOD'S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT

Proclamation:

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with The Lord to take it away from me.  But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV)

Explanation:

In his letter to the believers in Corinth, the Apostle Paul was defending his ministry and boasting of the things he had done and the visions that he had seen. (2 Corinthians 11:1-12:6)  Paul said that the “thorn” in his flesh was to humble him and to keep his focus on The Lord.  The Lord’s reply to his requests to remove the thorn was that God’s power is demonstrated in the face of human weakness.  Then Paul went on to say that now he delights in weaknesses, insults, persecutions, and difficulties because when he is at his weakest, he is made strong with God’s help. (2 Corinthians 12:10)

Application:

No matter what it is that we are going through, or dealing with, God's grace is sufficient to get it us through it.  The Lord can demonstrate His strength when we are weak and under duress if we turn whatever it is over to Him.  The Lord does not have to remove the mountain that is in front of us, He can give us the strength to climb over it.  He does not have to calm the storm, He can give us the strength to withstand it.  Sometimes we think too highly of ourselves and our abilities and we don’t give God the credit for enabling us and helping us.  Maybe some of our problems are “thorns” which God lets Satan inflict upon us to keep our focus on The Lord.  Remember, Peter was walking on water in a stormy sea and did not start to sink until he took his eyes off of The Lord. (Matthew 14:22-33)  Let us keep our focus on The Lord and not on our problems.  We serve a big and all powerful God and all of our problems are small and insignificant in comparison.  Our “thorns” in life can just be a humbling experience to remind us that God’s grace is sufficient.