Some of us like to walk around like our “mmph don’t stink”. As if everything in our life is perfect and worthy of envy. In 2 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul talks about how he prayed for God to remove the “thorn in his flesh”. To remove this thing about him that he struggles with. To paraphrase, he said that God told him that he wouldn’t remove it because He gave him grace to endure it. What ever Paul’s thorn was, it was something that kept him on his knees and from being conceited. Something that kept him near the cross. It was a reminder that he didn’t get to the place he was without God and that he couldn’t get through it without the grace of God.
No matter how far we’ve come in life with our many accomplishments; with our numerous titles and degrees, there is something in our lives that makes those achievements irrelevant. I’m not trying to say that God wants you to remember your failures or your struggles, but he wants you to remember that it was Him that brought you from where you came from and His Grace is keeping you from where you could be. What is the thorn in your life that keeps you humble?
This scripture also discusses how God encouraged Paul by saying “my power is made perfect in weakness”. In other words, you may be weak in this area, but when you are weak God is strong. This is a beautiful reminder that in those times of weakness, calling on God will give you strength because He is made strong in our times of weakness. He is our Father and He has our best interest at heart.
We should never get too proud and forget where we come from. We should never forget that it was God’s grace that brought us through those difficult times or is currently bringing us through the difficult time. Be humble and remember that God is the reason you are where you are. Continue to call on him for your strength.
2 Corinthians 12 New International Version (NIV)
Paul’s Vision and His Thorn
12 7 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.
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A Divine Perspective, formerly called Soul Food Sundays, are posted every Sunday.
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