Post by: Pastor Billy Shelton
Have you ever had a painful, irritating, or unpleasant situation in your life that you prayed for God to change, but for some reason he didn’t? If so, it may be helpful for you to read the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. He says, “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. 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 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.” Paul says he was given a thorn in the flesh. What was it? No one knows for sure. Perhaps this was by design, so that we can fill in the blank with whatever annoying, troublesome situation we may be dealing with. Where did it come from? Satan. Considering the thorn’s origin, its logical to assume that God would be happy to quickly remove it, but that wasn’t the case. Why? God decided he could use it to help Paul realize his potential.
Sometimes we want God to remove us, but he’s more focused on improving us. Occasionally, we want God to change our circumstance, but instead he uses our circumstance to change us. Ironically, it’s the thorns in our life that cause the most significant growth. With that in mind, would you say this prayer with me? Lord, I don’t know why you haven’t intervened yet. Furthermore, I’m not sure what purpose you hope to accomplish. Nevertheless, I trust you, and I know that one day I’ll be thankful for the thorns, but until then I know your grace is enough. In Jesus name, I pray, amen.
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