Word From the Word: Dealing with the ‘Thorn in the Flesh’

One of the most mysterious passages of scripture leaves us asking the question, what was the Apostle Paul’s “Thorn in the Flesh”? In II Corinthians 12:7, he called his thorn a “Messenger of Satan” but did not tell us exactly who or what that Messenger was.

Over the years, I have heard many sermons on this subject, but none have been able to identify Paul’s Thorn. I believe the ambiguity exists so that we can all not only sympathize with Paul’s thorn, but identify with it personally. For people battling a Debilitating Disease, they tend to believe Paul was as well. For others, they believe the Apostle was battling the Demon of Depression, the Despair of Debt, the Dismay of Discouragement or the Devastation of Death … maybe you have another Condition to Consider based on your Current Crisis or Circumstance.

I know a blind man who believes Paul had issues with his eye-sight. I know a diabetic that believes that Paul was too. Maybe it was Asthma, maybe it was Epilepsy, maybe it was Heart Disease, Lung Disease, Arthritis … maybe it was Physical, maybe it was Emotional, maybe it was Mental, maybe it was Spiritual, maybe Paul had low Self-Esteem or maybe he was too Prideful … sounds like a lot of “Maybe’s” to me. The fact is, if God would have wanted us to know it would be noted in the Bible. Instead of fretting over what we don’t know about the “Thorn”, let’s examine what we do, in fact, know.

At the end of the day, we can speculate at best as to what this particular messenger was, but Paul leaves no doubt about the Message of Mercy it Taught him and the Ministry his Misery Brought him.

True to form, I will share a few thoughts from this week’s, “Word from the Word” in my typical Alliterated outline form as we Dissect and Discover the Meaning of II Corinthians 12:7-10.

“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.”

First, let’s consider the PROVISION of Paul’s thorn. God chose to give him a measure of Suffering and Sorrow not for the sake of Angry Retaliation for sin, per se, but for the sake of Abundant Revelation (12:7). We would be well served not to assume every Difficult Day or Challenging Circumstance was either an Attack from the Devil or Punishment from the Lord.

Remember, “Every Good and Perfect Gift Comes from Above” (James 1:17). Sometimes those Godly Gifts come Wrapped in Sorrow and tied together with a Bow of Uncertainty.

Before we cry out, “WHY?”, we might want to consider crying out, “WHAT…?” “What can I Learn from this Thorn?”, “HOW…?” “How Will God Use this Thorn?” “WHERE…?” “Where Will this Thorn Lead Me?” “WHO…?” “Who Can I Help with Their Thorn” (Because of experiencing my own). Paul does expose his tendency for Pride in the bookends of verse 7 with the same phrase, “Lest I Should Be Exalted above Measure”. Here’s a great “Teachable Moment”…

There is a “Healthy Measure” of Pride that is revealed by a person’s work ethic or dedication. It’s a great compliment when someone commends another for “Taking Pride in their Work”. It’s a wonderful thing to tell our children that we are “Proud of Them”. Even God the Father pronounced His Pride in His Son when Jesus was Baptized saying, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am Well Pleased”. However, there must also, by default, be an “Un-Healthy Measure” of Pride as well. Paul’s Thorn was sent to keep his pride in check. It could be that if we never had a Thorn in the Flesh to deal with, we might have a more severe condition to battle, the “Pride of the Flesh”.

I have discovered a total of ten points to consider, so let’s move through the following nine a bit faster than we did point number one (which was “Provision”, in case you forgot).

Point TWO – the PETITION of Paul’s Thorn. He wasn’t immediately excited about his situation. In fact, Paul begged God no less than three times to Remove It! (vs. 8) I love the immediate response of the Lord, “And He Said Unto Me…” Much like Paul, David said, “In my Distress, I Called upon the Lord, and Cried unto my God. He heard my Voice out of His Temple, and my Cry Came before Him, Even into His Ears” (Psalm 18:6) In other words, when Paul asked the Lord to, “Take Away His Thorn”, God said, “Nope… I’m not Taking IT Away but I’m Gonna Take You THROUGH It!”.

There’s Point THREE – the PREROGATIVE of Paul’s Thorn … God always gives us what we need, but not always what we want … Thanks be to God, we are Blessed because He knows Best!!!

Point FOUR – the PURPOSE of Paul’s Thorn. I’m sure we have all heard II Corinthians 12:9. In fact, we have all probably claimed it from time to time … “My Grace is Sufficient for thee: for My Strength is Made Perfect in Weakness.” As always, Content and Context are inseparable when studying Scripture. It was in light of Paul’s Grief that God shed light on His Grace! The Thorn would serve Paul well in drawing him closer to the Lord. It would be his Thorn that would allow him to experience “Grace, Grace, Marvelous Grace, Infinite Grace, God’s Grace that is Greater than All Our Sin”. When we experience our own Toils, Trials, Troubles and Thorns, may we realize the “More than Sufficient Grace of God”. Beloved, our Thorns will either Pull us TO God or Push us FROM God, the choice is up to us.

Point FIVE – the PERSPECTIVE of Paul’s Thorn. He is adamant that he will choose to “Glory in his Infirmities so that the Power of Christ might Rest upon him”. Furthermore, Paul goes on to put his Miserable Messenger in its place by proclaiming to it and to everyone who would read of his Thorn by proclaiming, “I Take Pleasure in Infirmities, in Necessities, in Persecutions, in Distresses for Christ’s Sake: for when I am Weak, I am Strong.”

Point SIX – The PATIENCE over Paul’s Thorn is well summarized in Psalm 40. “I Waited Patiently for the Lord; and He Inclined unto me and Heard my Cry. He Brought me up also out of the Miry Clay, and Set my Feet upon a Rock and Established my Goings. And He hath Put a New Song in My Mouth; even Praise unto our God: Many shall See it, and Fear, and Trust in the Lord. Blessed is that Man that Maketh the Lord his Trust …” As a faithful Jew, the Apostle, no doubt, had the words of David hidden in his heart. This Psalm would serve him (and us) well as a Lamp to our Feet and a Light to our Paths (Psalm 119:105).

The Last part of Psalm 40 indicates yet another point to consider – the PERSUASION (Point SEVEN) of Paul’s Thorn. Our Thorn often times becomes the test that leads to a greater Testimony that then affords us the opportunity to help others bear the unbearable burden of their own Thorn in their Flesh. The Credentials of our Crisis qualifies us; it makes us Experienced Experts in the field of Thorn-bearing that we otherwise would not be able to list on our Resume.

Ok, here’s where things get even more interesting… Let’s consider Point EIGHT – the POSSIBILITIES of Paul’s Thorn. Maybe this “Thing” wasn’t a “Thing” at all. Maybe it was a “WHO”. I would submit to you that there is far more evidence in the Bible to substantiate the theory that the Thorn Paul was Dealing with was actually a Difficult Disciple, a Pious Pharisee or a Super-Spiritual Sadducee . It just could be that a Problem from his Past had risen his ugly head up to condemn Saul the Persecutor of Christians. Again, we have no way of knowing this for sure, but thirty years of ministry has taught me that most Thorns are People with Faces (sometimes two faces) and not the Problems we Face. At any rate, the Personification of Paul’s Thorn is definitely worth considering and learning from. Sometimes God puts Cantankorous Critics and Complaining Cohorts in the same company with Committed Christians for our ultimate good. Like Paul, we might beg God to take them away, but He just might choose to leave them to keep us grounded in Him. We need to Learn to Love our Thorns, Listen to our Thorns and even Learn from our Thorns. This is mandated in Matthew 5:44, “But I Say unto you, Love your Enemies; Bless them that Curse you, Do Good to them that Hate you, and Pray for them that Despitefully Use you and Persecute you.”

I remember a Thorn of my own past who wasn’t impressed with his new, wet behind the ears, 26-year-old pastor. After only a few weeks of listening to my sermons, he decided he would set me straight. He sent for me to come make a Pastoral Call at his home. I immediately walked down the street and into his living room (nothing like the small town pastorate). He quickly got to the point … “Boy, did you keep the boxes you used to move here” he asked. “Yes sir, do you know someone who needs them?” I answered naively. His response cut me deep, “YOU!” He went on to tell me that he was the unofficial spokesman for a very dissatisfied congregation and that my sermons belonged in a comedy club and not in the First Baptist Church pulpit. I didn’t take his rebuke any better than he offered it. I cut the visit short and headed back to my office to vent, whispering, “Who does he think he is telling ME how to preach.” God convicted me to go to the church media library (remember those?) and to pull the cassette tapes (how about those?) from the files. I sat in my study listening to my first few messages hoping to be vindicated. To my surprise I was convicted … the Senior Saint’s assessment was true. I was using way too much humor and way too many illustrations. I guess I was trying to be encouraging and a bit entertaining in hopes of winning the less-than-passionate parishioners over. Over the years that would follow, that Thorn became a friend and I told him numerous times how much I appreciated his insights on my first few sermons.

To this day, God reminds me that while a “Merry Heart Does Good Like a Medicine” (Proverbs 17:22), there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Before his death, this Thorn would proudly refer to me as “his Pastor and Friend”. I was good to him and he was good to me – Thorn or no Thorn!

Point NINE – the PERSEVERANCE of Paul’s Thorn. Whether it was a Person, Place or Thing, the Message this Messenger of Satan was, “You are Defeated!” The Message of the Master is, “You are More than a Conqueror” (Romans 8:37). So, are we going to be Deceived by the Devil or Confident in Christ? Many a Minister or Ministry have met a premature end because of a Thorn that got the best of the Man or Plan of God. We must remember that, while we may feel like no match for our Formidable Thorn, it, whatever it is, is no match for our Sovereign Savior who is, “Our Refuge and Strength, a Very Present Help in Time of Trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Finally…. Point TEN – the PRAISE of Paul’s Thorn. His Natural Response to the Thorn was, “God Please Remove It” but, in the end, his Super-Natural Response was, “God I Will Rejoice In It!” Romans 8:28 tells us that “ALL Things (even THORNS) Work Together for God to those that Love God and are Called According to His Purpose”. When we face our own Thorns in Life, let’s be mindful to Thank God, in spite of our circumstances and situations, for His Saving, Satisfying, Sustaining Grace. Never forget, It was the David’s Giant that Proved the Power of God, Daniel’s Lion’s Den that Proved the Protection of God, the Hebrew Boys Fiery Furnace that Proved the Preeminence of God, Paul and Silas’ Dungeon that Proved the Providence of God, the Cross of Jesus that Proved the Sovereignty of God … it was Paul’s Thorn that Proved the Sufficiency of God (His Grace).

Friends, God may give us our own Challenge in life so that He might, once again, Prove Himself Faithful!!!! If God chooses to remove your Thorn – Praise His Holy Name. If God chooses to leave your Thorn – Praise His Holy Name … Either way, He is Worthy of Worship and Praise!!!