Thorns: Open Door or Adversary?

“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
- 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Who could say, from center to circumference, they fully comprehend God’s attribute of grace? For that matter, does anyone possess absolute understanding of even a single attribute of God? Whether it is His mercy or the justice of His wrath, the fullness of each attribute of God is veiled in the counsel of His will. The only thing we know for certain about His qualities and nature is that we do not fully understand them. We all at times have gazed into a glass darkly to behold an element of His nature. But soon what we thought we saw completely, what we thought we knew thoroughly became obscured by the limitations of our human reasoning.

Even those, who by spiritual discipline lead their carnal mind towards submission to God on a consistent basis, cannot claim fullness of understanding. Else, the question of why God immediately heals some and not everyone could be answered. Or why He deals with some people’s sins immediately and others later would be known. I could go on, but honestly I do not want to seek the answer to these types of thoughts or furthermore learn the fullness of each question.

In the book that was written about him, the many questions Job asked after this sort came to abrupt end in the narrative. In chapter 38 of Job, the 2nd verse records an initial question God asked Job which then transitioned into a divine discourse:

“Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?”

By the time God had finished asking 66 more questions (as best as I could count) Job declared his questions had came to their end:

“Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.” (Job 40:5) However the questions did not end at that point because God continued in His profound diatribe.
Was its Paul’s understanding of Job’s story that kept him from pushing and pulling at God about the thorn situation? Maybe. But with all things considered, its obvious Paul knew how to appropriately respond to the thorn. I will not indicate in this writing what I believe the identity of the thorn was and we know there is a host of opinions about that. Nonetheless, there are several things we know for certain about this thorn:

1. We know why Paul had it – to ensure humility & prevent exaltation resulting from the abundance of revelations
2. We know God allowed it to continually have an affect on Paul.
3. We know Satan facilitated the impact the thorn had upon Paul.
4. We know Paul’s initial prayers for it’s removal were not according to God’s will.
5. We know Paul received an answer from God about the thorn.

Finally, we also know the thorn was not a good thing but it was a thing which brought good. For Paul, this would become a greater revelation that pertained to his revelations. While he was pleading (the definition of ‘besought’) with God to remove the thorn an answer came that replaced Paul’s desire for it to be removed. Paul realized:

1. God’s favor upon him would be enough to replace his desire for the thorn’s removal.
2. He could accept his thorn because of the results that would follow.
3. The weakness that was manifested in him because of the thorn would develop into a sustained empowerment from God.

Sometimes insufficiency is more than enough. God’s grace was enough and it was proportional to Paul’s need. God did not offer his favor upon Paul as a substitute for the thorn. Else its design would have been pointless. Instead God guaranteed him a provision of His power. Paul learned he could find strength in the very thing that revealed his weakness. He found pleasure in the very thing that brought him pain. When Paul was weak in a fleshly sense he became strong in a spiritual sense.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain…” - 1 Corinthians 15:10

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God…” 2 Corinthians 3:5

During the last couple of years, I have been with some of God’s best as they dealt with their own thorn in the flesh. One thing I have noticed about some of them is an abiding grace that rests upon them. You see their struggle and in prayer you see evidence of God’s hand already upon the situation. As they persistently put one foot in front of the other to continue their walk with God, the glory of God is manifested. By virtue of their continued prayers and faithfulness to Him, God’s greatness is seen. God is so good that even when He doesn’t answer their petition exactly how it is asked; it does not change how they feel about Him. As Hell and life beats upon them and assails them in various manners, they simply transform into a shape that continues to glorify their original Maker.