To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul said a mouthful. Paul had been boasting about all the things he had helped accomplish, but he received a "thorn of the flesh" that stopped his boasting. It is not known for sure what kind of affliction it was, whether his eyes or his writing hand, but it impaired him and caused him suffering. First off he mentions that the thorn was a messenger from Satan. All forms of temptation and suffering are from him. Does God allow these things to happen? Yes. And always for His greater purposes. Just like with Paul's. Paul was hurting and suffering from this thorn and pleaded with God 3 times for relief from the thorn. But God said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." God gave a straight answer to Paul about his thorn. God told him, yes of course you are suffering, you have a weak mortal body and you live in a sinful world. You are weak, you will suffer this thorn and you can expect to suffer through more in the future. But, because you are weak, I have given you the power of my grace that is made perfect in you. We are weak. We are made of flesh and bone. We let ourselves get comfortable and forget that. I keep forgetting that. And like Paul, I am reminded of my weakness through my thorns, mainly my crohn's disease. And when I am afflicted, I am able to remember that I have a God who is stronger than my thorn. I have His grace that promises me a brand new life away from thorns and pain. And I remember than until the time when the pain stops, I have a God who is willing to put His powerful grace in me for His works. And this is what Paul realized when he heard God's answer to his pleas. Paul said that after hearing God say this, he boasted all the more gladly about his weaknesses. And he took delight in weaknesses and insults and hardships and persecutions and difficulties. All these things remind us of God's power and why we rely on Him: Because we are weak, and cannot do anything on our own. Paul used this to spread the Gospel and encourage his fellow believers. Can great works and wonderful achievements spread the Gospel, yes. But when a believer hears that it's okay to be weak, then the burden to be strong and carry the world on their shoulders is gone. They realize, they were never meant to carry the world, they were meant to live in it as their weak self and point out that it is God carrying them and the world.
Paul ended by saying "For when I am weak, then I am strong." We forget how weak we are until Satan reminds us with a thorn. But when we have received the thorn, we have a choice of what to do with it. We can moan and complain about it until it goes away, or we can let it teach us a lesson and remind us that God is more powerful than our problems. We can use it to show the world that we don't care what kind of suffering we receive and that we don't have time to complain on earth. We can show the world that we are living for more than the time when we feel better on earth. We live for the time when we get to feel better forever.
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
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