Thorns

What is the thorn in your side that is tormenting you?

Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

Paul talks about the torment of what may be a physical affliction and he calls it a thorn in the flesh.  He doesn't explain what it is, and perhaps there was no terminology for it in his day.  So it allows us to speculate, and to apply his thorn to all thorns.

Imagine overcoming one torment only to discover another has taken its place.

I know someone who is dealing with that now.  The medication that keeps seizures at bay causes her bones to become brittle, so, like Paul's thorn that is with him always, she has a thorn that can shatter with each slip or fall.

Paul prayed for God to take this affliction away, but that didn't happen.  He was told by God to use this weakness as a source of greater power through God's grace.

When we are suffering and in pain, that may not be the answer we want from God.  Healing for us means cure, and cure should not bring with it new afflictions, new or greater thorns.

Of course, we hear about them all the time, in ads for medications.  Contraindications or side effects of drugs can be life-threatening, which makes us wonder if the risk is worth it.

But that may be the message here.  God may want us to expect life to be thorny, and to seek the strength in Him to deal with the bristles and brambles, and even crosses we encounter.

If life is going to be difficult, all the more reason to spend our time doing something truly valuable.

So, I pray that all who suffer with thorns known and unknown find help in God, for only in Him can we find a way to deal with the bad and enjoy the good.

More to come...