A Thorn Bush!

2 Corinthians 12:7-9

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

A Thorn in the Flesh

 ⁷ Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to ^[a]torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! ⁸ Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. ⁹ And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast ^[b]about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

 

I have had a few thorns in my life.  Truth is, I have had so many I could be considered a thorn bush.  Can you relate?  When I was growing up, my grandmother had rose bushes all the way around her house.  They were beautiful to look at and she had every color imaginable.  She had red ones, orange ones, yellow ones, pink ones and even black ones.  Pretty to look at, but not so nice to touch.

 

It is amazing how much pain a small thorn can bring.  Just a small prick can bring blood to the surface of the skin and leave a sore spot that may last for days, especially if a small piece of the thorn embedes itself in the body.  You may not be able to see it with the naked eye, but you definitely know it's there.

 

Life's problems are the same way.  To the casual observer our life may look beautiful, but underneath, unseen by the naked eye is a thorn.  No one else knows its there, but we sure do.  We have a constant daily reminder of it. 

 

Paul had a thorn and he asked the great physician, three times to remove it.  It is as if Paul is pleading with God to take this unbearable thorn out of his life.  God doesn't and the answer as to why He doesn't was totally unexpected by Paul.  God tells Paul to (let me use modern language here) deal with it, I am using this thorn in your life to perfect my power in you.  WHAT!!  This thorn is meant for my good, how can that be?

 

For Paul it was being used to keep him from becoming arrogant and conceited (go back to the end of verse seven) and your thorn and mine also has a hgher good. Maybe we can't see it at the moment, maybe the pain has us looking inward instead of upward, but we can rest assured that as it was for Paul, so it is for us, "God's grace is sufficient in our weakness." 

 

The Bible does not tell us how long it was between his asking, either.  Let's not interpret the Bible to read that he asked three times in a row.  Maybe he asked every other week or every other month or maybe even every other year.  Who knows, but I do know that God finally gave him an answer as to why the thorn was there and I choose to believe that sooner or later, God will give us an answer, too.

 

Pastor Rick