Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh

-


Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV)

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Devotion:

            Paul here is giving us guidance for what to do when we have some illness or hardship that God sees fit to let us suffer under. Prior to this Paul had been boasting of visions he had seen in the Lord. While we do not know what the precise “thorn” it was that he was afflicted with we do know from the context that it was enough to cause him to plead with God to take it away from him.

            Paul ultimately heard the Lord’s answer to his petition, and it was a divine no to his request. Therefore, Paul suffered from this undisclosed problem for the rest of his life. Paul learned an important lesson from this tribulation. That is that God’s grace would sustain him and allow him to flourish despite the hardship Paul faced day by day. The secret of power in weakness in the flesh that he might declare God’s power even more powerfully.

            The end result was that God’s power was proclaimed even more powerfully through the very weakness that God had allowed Satan to afflict Paul with. God’s grace was even more able to show forth God’s power through this condition. Paul could even boast about his weakness to others so that the power of God could be manifest within him.

            I have seen God work in similar ways in our own day and time. Here I can boast of all my weaknesses that keep me close to Christ. I rejoice in my sufferings as I know that God’s great power are made manifest in my weakness. The laundry list of my ailments I will not present to you, but I am daily beset with some form of illness. In the end these illnesses are a platform on which I show that God’s power is able to make me a more effective communicator of his love for all humankind. I see God at work in my life each day despite Satan’s continual barrage of arrows seeking to bring me down. I hold the shield of faith to quench all the fiery arrows of the evil. One,

            Each Christian is given their own personal thorn in the side. The more you proclaim Christ the worse the problems will be. I have seen over and over again the assault that the enemy of our souls seeks to work against those who proclaim Jesus is Lord. So be encouraged friend God loves you and will make sure that your witness to him is not diminished by the resistance he has for your message. Let us pray for God’s help in bearing with our weaknesses.

Prayer:

            Holy Lord, we thank you for the power of Christ that lives within us. We ask that you would minister in our weakness and disability that we may show forth your power and strength in us each day. Help us be faithful servants of you. May we rejoice in our weakness and give praise to you as the helper we need to make it through our challenges. Glory to you O Lord, may we proclaim your word in a lost and dying world, Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcoming the Unwelcome

-
  Scripture: Luke 7:36-38 (NIV) 36  When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37  A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38  As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. Devotion:             First of all, some warnings to my readers. This post will exceed the 500 words I try to limit my posts. Second, this post will contain content people may find offensive or otherwise unfit for print. Please understand that my purpose is neither to offend nor upset but to provoke thought and, hopefully, respectful dialog.             We will use Luke chapter seven as an aid to interpreting the events that occurred last Thursday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. On that da
Read more

Father Forgive Them

-
  Scripture: Luke 23:33-34 (ESV) 33  And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34  And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Devotion:             The situation Jesus finds himself in here in today’s scripture is difficult for us to even imagine. A sham trial, no credible accusations of any kind, let alone any deserving of death, and yet here he is. A brilliant Rabbi, a teacher of the people who never led even one person astray from God’s will. This Holy One of God soon to be food for vultures.             This man who had done nothing wrong had no one in all the crowds who would speak up in his defense lest they be next to face the cross. An innocent man hung between two scoundrels. No voice from heaven declaring that this was the man that they were killing was actually the true Son of God. (See Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5, John 12:28) No the heaven
Read more

Transgenderism letter

-
  This is a copy of my letter to my senators, representative, and President Biden. January 15, 2024 Dear President Biden, Senators T. Duckworth, R. Durbin, and Representative D. LaHood             I am writing to you because I am concerned about the situation affecting our children and grandchildren, namely transitioning them from one gender to another. This nation must adjust course concerning these “interventions” because they are dangerous, irreversible, and life-changing. Our country should not be permitting these procedures on minor children under any circumstances. We must also make sure that adults who seek this care are given informed consent as to the risks versus benefits of sex reassignment treatments.             There are many drawbacks to gender-affirming care for minors. Besides the loss of any ability to give or receive sexual pleasure and sterility these treatments cause, there are social and psychological effects that we have no way of identifying because these
Read more