The Purpose of the Thorn
Merriam-Webster describes a thorn as something that causes distress or irritation often used in the phrase thorn in one's side. In 2 Corinthians, Paul describes a thorn in his flesh. What is a thorn in your flesh? I’ve experienced many, we’ve all had many. Quite frankly, we ought to be thankful for them. I know that a thorn doesn’t sound inviting or pleasurable, but it isn’t supposed to be. The thorn is supposed to keep us reliant upon our Heavenly Father. The thorn keeps our eyes fixed on Christ. A thorn could be a friend or family member that you bump heads with. A thorn could be your pushy boss or co-worker. A thorn could be your spouse or in-laws. A thorn could be a devastating event or tragedy. Whatever it is, it has a purpose (whether we see it or not).
Let’s read the verse that prompted this post. 2 Corinthians 12: 7b says, therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 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. 10 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 says the thorn kept him from becoming conceited. I’ve had many thorns that have kept me humble. For example, I was going to school for my Bachelor’s degree (right after my husband and I had accepted Christ). Our marriage was still extremely rocky. With only a year and a half to finish, we moved to another state. My husband wanted to pursue another career path, and I obliged because I knew the move would save our marriage. But quietly, I resented my husband because of this sacrifice I made to stop school and leave everything behind. The good Lord showed me what possibly may have happened if we stayed. I'll give you the scenario. Let’s say we got into one of those ugly, heated and out of control arguments. I could honestly see myself calling it quits, leaving him because I was now “educated”...better off without him because I've "made something of myself". From thinking so highly of myself, it would not be long before we got a divorce. Looking back, I am glad that I didn't finish at that time. I now have my degree in something totally different, something that I am more passionate about, and I'm still married. God honors our sacrifice, but knows best what we need. My marriage still has ups and downs, but it's much healthier. God has His reasons and timing for things, and we ought to trust Him.
But sometimes, we pray that God takes away the person or situation causing us grief. We just want to be done with it. We are stressed out, frustrated, and grief-stricken. But how else would we grow and become stronger? I’m no doctor, but it like our bodies. Our body builds immunity to certain virus’, bacteria, and sicknesses that we’ve endured. The next time we get the sickness, it doesn't affect us as much or we don't get it at all. It's beneficial for us to get sick. How would we be able to stand against a sickness and build immunity to it if we are never around it? If you’re like me, you will go to God for anything and everything, little or large, big or small. Praying helps to get me through. But if you’re one to wait until the problem or issue gets unbearable, I hope you save yourself the grief. Take your problem and this message as an invitation to run into the Father’s arms. He’s waiting to embrace us and ready to deploy his Heavenly hosts (angels) to help you. You may not be to the point where you are thankful for difficulties, but I know you can look back at a hard situation that you previously overcame. Going through it, you may have felt like there was no way out. Now that it’s over, you see how strong you’ve become. (Ladies, think of what you went through while giving birth!) We can’t expect to grow, learn, or get stronger unless we’ve endured certain things. A child doesn’t learn how to walk or ride a bike without some falls. They say what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, but let’s look at one of my favorite Bible verses.
3Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:3). We see that there is a purpose for our sufferings. They help us to build perseverance. Once we have produced perseverance, we gain character. Then after character, we have hope. God doesn't give us more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13) yet, through it all, we have the love of God. We become better, brighter, stronger, and smarter. We learn, grow, persevere, and overcome! But my biggest hope is that we would draw closer to God and turn quickly to Him for His limitless aid! What is the purpose for your thorn?
Let us Pray.
Father God,
You are so loving, patient, and gentle. You know all things. You are aware of every single thing that is happening in the Universe. You are kind, yet powerful, forgiving yet grand! I praise you Lord, and thank you for your goodness. Lord, because you know all things, you know that all of us experience many hardships and struggles. We realize that they are just a part of life; however, sometimes we don’t understand WHY we go through what we go through. Lord, help us to see the purpose of the hardships and to get through these struggles. Show the readers that they don’t have to go through it alone. Help us to produce the perseverance, character and hope. Father God, some of us may need a way back to you, and a certain piercing thorn we are experiencing right now may be just the way. Wipe their tears Lord and strengthen them. Show them there is still hope and that You, the Creator of the Universe, is more than happy to help. Carry them through their circumstances Lord. Encounter them in a personal and loving way. I pray this all in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayerfully,
Pam
