2 Corinthians 12:9. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Just Make the Trouble Go Away

When the Lord gives us a thorn in the flesh like Paul, we often just want it to go away.  A thorn, in order to pierce the skin, has to have very high pressure at the point.  The thorn, also, usually contains poison, and when it is in the flesh for a long period of time, can continue to inject that poison.  The Lord can place trials or thorns in our life that can hang with us for a long period of time.  Paul’s might have been with him most of his saved life.  There was a time in his life, after he was saved, that he just wanted to get rid of this thorn, that was said to be a messenger of Satan.  He prayed for God to remove it but it was God’s will for Paul. 

What is a Thorn in the Flesh?

A thorn in the flesh can be a lot of things in the Christian life.  It can be troubling thoughts that the devil tries to wear us down with.  It can be physical pain.  It can be trials or consequences of our decisions.  It is pretty much anything that, over a period of time, can wear you down, like it did with Paul.  Randy Pike says this thorn could have been around for nearly 14 years (the time from when he got saved to the time he wrote II Corinthians) before Paul prayed this prayer.  It was a messenger from Satan.  It was something that God put in Paul’s life for the sole purpose of keeping him humble and giving Paul a chance to experience the supernatural grace of God in his life.

God’s Grace is Enough

The bottom line of the whole thing is that God’s grace is sufficient for any trial that we face.  It is actually better than being delivered from the trial, according to Paul.  He would rather the thorn stay there so that he could experience the supernatural power of Christ in his life, on a daily basis.  There are not too many people who would say that.  Paul did not really understand where this thorn was coming from for almost 14 years.  That could be the case for us, too.  We may never understand the messages sent from God, by the hand of the devil, in our lives.  God is trying to grow us and all we are focused on is the thorn, not the grace that could be delivered to us. 

We Don’t Need to Understand Everything

We really do not need to understand everything that happens to us in life.  That is part of trusting God.  We really don’t even need to understand it when we get to heaven.  The important thing is that God’s will is accomplished in our life.  He is the one who calls the shots and sends the thorns He chooses, not us.  We just need to go along for the ride and try to grow all we can.  That means letting the grace of God rule in your heart.  When that happens, we can shout and thank God for infirmities, weaknesses, and other things that drag us down.  That is not because the infirmities are great, it is what they produce.  That is how Romans 8:28 can always work in a Christian’s life.  The bad probably produces more good than the good.  Are you letting the grace of God work in your life to produce Christ’s power?