Paul's Thorn

What is your thorn?

Is it depression, being broke, being single, being married, your job, your current situation?????

A thorn is awful, it is painful and it is very obvious. Usually a thorn catches us off guard and it always hurts much worse than what we think it would. The thing about a thorn is it usually mixed in with something of beauty. For instance, think of a rose. Is there a more beautiful flower? That could teach us a lesson right there...

We may have something that is always present in our lives that is hard to deal with and that we would like to get rid of; but God may have put it there to keep us dependent on Him and to keep us looking to Him for our strength. It sounds kind of unfair, but God knows us better than we know ourselves and He knows what is best for each of us.

Paul talked about a thorn and he asked God to take it away from Him but God clearly told him he would not take it away. He told Paul he would just have to rely on Him (God) to get him through. Paul literally begged God to take it away....so what do you think he was dealing with? He was an awesome man of faith. God had done a true miracle in his life and He will forever be remembered for writing much of the New Testament.

But he had to keep going and he had to keep going with "the thorn". I have heard different perspectives of what it could have been but maybe we aren't told because when we read it, we can more easily identify with our walk with God and our own personal thorn---whatever that may be.

Take a look at your own thorn today and try to thank God for whatever it is. Or at least try to believe that God is sovereign and that He knows what He is doing. 

When you see a rose, you don't even think about the thorns on the stem because it is just so beautiful. So when others see us, they need to see our beauty and not our thorn too.
Paul said he was given his thorn to keep from becoming proud. I still wonder what it was.

Do you know what yours is? I sure know what mine is......

KL

Here is the story Paul’s Vision and His Thorn in the Flesh

 This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.2 Corinthians 12

That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a THORN in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.