Paul was caught in a dilemma. He was being challenged as to his claim of being an apostle of Jesus Christ. It was something he seemed to battle in various places where his enemies tried to mute his message. He wrote to the churches in Corinth that he was as qualified if not more than the other apostles. Chapter eleven beginning at verse sixteen until the end of the chapter is a long list of sufferings that he endured. He continued it into chapter twelve and speaks about why he has more reason to boast of his perseverance for the gospel. His testimony is powerful and one we can certainly learn from.
I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given 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. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, (New International Version or NIV).
I can identify with Paul’s thorn in the flesh. I think that many of us have something that we deal with that we could call our thorn. I know that I do. I have often wondered why I had to be born with such bad allergies to so many things. I have endured years of food allergies and environmental ones too. I have more than just seasonal allergy issues. I even had to stop taking allergy shots because I kept having anaphylactic reactions to them. I have also wondered why I had to inherit the fat gene that seems to run in my father’s family as well as my grandfather’s on my mother’s side. It is not easy for me to lose weight and I don’t eat as much as one would think to create weight in the first place. There is something wrong with my digestive system which makes me wonder if there is some sort of connection between my gut and my weight. I often suffer greatly with gut issues. No fun to go through, I can tell you!
Many times, I have prayed to get healed from all my allergies. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Countless times I have prayed with tears about my weight and how uncomfortable I feel. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” And how many times I have wept, mourned, and suffered through gut issues begging God for relief and healing. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” When I faced a separation and ultimate divorce, I prayed for my marriage to be restored and renewed and not broken. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” And when my heart issues began troubling me, I also prayed for relief, but I got the same answer too. My thorns have remained, and, like Paul, they have kept me humble before people and God.
In retrospect, I can see that some of my thorns have protected me from situations that I might not have been ready to handle. Had I been thin and better looking I might not have handled single life as a teen and young person well. I might have gone along with the crowd, but because of my allergies, I could not go to parties that were in pastures or at the lake. The outdoors made me sneeze and have all kinds of issues. I am also allergic to alcohol and so many young people back when I was in high school liked to have drinking parties. I didn’t go and that’s been a good thing. And, if I am honest, my gut issues in recent years have kept me isolated and that has certainly protected me from making a fool of myself. There’s nothing worse than an old, divorced woman making a fool of herself, don’t you think? I have always liked to be social, but my health issues since the divorce have kept me away from potential problems with men. I like that too. So, the truth is that sometimes we have thorns like Paul did for protection as well as keeping us humble.
I will be the first to state unequivocally that Jesus walked with me through each thorn I have endured. He never left me alone, not even for one minute. I would often think of scripture or songs that would give me the strength to keep going and get through the ordeal. I know that the Holy Spirit was interceding for me in prayer when I was groaning with pain or so sleepy I could not think or whatever my thorn was activated at the time. God answered each prayer, and I am still here today and have lived to tell my story, a story of God’s grace and goodness. In my weakness, I turn to Jesus and He never lets me go. In my weakness, I realize how important grace is and why I am a Christian who hopes for a better future in heaven. In my weaknesses, I am made strong. So many of my posts for this blog have come from my perseverance in coping with one of my thorns.
If I said this to non-believers, they would not understand my words or meaning. But I suspect that there are many of you reading this that do understand. If you are a Christian, you most likely have something unpleasant that you contend with on a regular basis. It doesn’t define who you are, but it does define who God is. It defines how God works through your weaknesses to make you strong. I might be physically a mess, but spiritually I am stronger than ever! I know what is important and my body is just a vessel made of clay, but my soul is where the battle begins and ends. Heaven with God, with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit and all the holy creatures, or hell with the defeated. My thorns have helped me keep on the righteous path and I will boast of them and be thankful for them because when I am weak, then I am strong in Jesus.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Ephesians 1:15-23, (NIV).
The power that makes us strong comes from Jesus for He has been given all power and authority in heaven and on earth. We do not have to worry; we know who is with us and will remain with us when we are at our weakest point. I love knowing this because it gives me faith to endure, and more than that to persevere. His grace and power are sufficient for us.
Until next time…Katherine
Katherine Speaks 