Irritated But Illuminated
Scripture Text: II Corinthians 12:7 – 10
Introduction: If there was a mind reading device that would allow me to lend you access to my thoughts, I’m not sure that I would even let my parents touch it because if they read my mind they would probably be repulsed because of the thought processes that have the potential of developing there. I’m mentioning my parents because I’d like to believe that they would love me regardless of my circumstances, but sometimes my own thoughts scare even me. It’s not so much physical or ascetic things that I find myself wrestling with; my battles take place almost entirely on the battlefield of my mind. My mind is critical in this affair simply because if I allow the enemy to take over my mind, it won’t be soon after that my body will follow. That’s why I have to be careful about the sites I peruse on the Internet and be careful about the things I watch on television because it sets up residence to some carnal and confusing things within the periscope of my own mind simply because human beings have the proclivity and the propensity to perform those things that have been on their minds. Whether the thought function is positive or negative, it won’t be long before my actions follow suit. If you think about exercising for an extended amount of time, [sooner or later] you’ll find yourself in some form of exercise. If you think about cheating on your wife or your husband or your significant other but don’t use the weapons of your warfare that are mighty through God to pull down that stronghold [and]…
II Corinthians 10:5 – …casting down arguments [imaginations] and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…
Then, there is a possibility that you will be more susceptible to do what you know you have no business doing even though you’ve seen it coming. Why is that? It’s simply because your mind is a powerful tool that either develops you or detracts from you. [And] That’s why the devil does NOT want your mind on anything that has to do with Christendom or Christianity; that’s why the devil wishes to assault our children’s minds with amplified images of prosperity and vanity. That’s why he stirs up confusion within the congregation and strife among the saints, because if we ever got to a point where God received the faithfulness of our focus, the power and the presence of God would make the devil’s endeavors a disaster. We find a prime example of this preaching presentation with the apostle Paul, who discovers the sheer energy and essence of God in a place called “the third heaven”. Now, to my recollection, I’ve never been to the third heaven, but I have experienced an earth moving invocation of the presence of God. [And] I recognize that when I’ve been in the presence of the Lord, it’s something about His presence that intoxicates you to the place where you forget where you are and how long it took for you to get there. Don’t believe me? Just ask Peter, for when he received “a private showing” of the Master’s glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, he lost what Bobby Brown called “all stamina and stutter” and forgot that while he was in worship mode on top of the mountain, there was a work mandate at the bottom of the mountain. When you get into God’s presence, shackles fall off of your feet; in other words, your feet feel a little lighter when you’re in His presence. In His presence, not only do shackles fall off your feet, but shame falls from your face, because I remember reading in
Hebrews 4:16 – Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find GRACE to help in time of need.
So, Paul gains access to the third heaven, but we discover that he’s not able to repeat what he sees. He doesn’t go into detail, so that subsequently gives me a reason to speculate about why he doesn’t speak on the subject except to introduce us to where he’s been. Maybe he’s not able to put it into words because the grandeur of the experience filled his heart with gladness to the extent that it muted his mouth. [And] I believe that’s a plausible speculation, because I’ve been in some very gratifying experiences that were so inexplicable [so difficult to explain] that I was unable to adequately describe where I’d been and what I’d experienced. [But] Paul does let us in on a little secret; when he comes off of the euphoric high of that experience in the third heaven, he leaves the experience and runs straight into irritation. It’s amazing when you enter into worship and experience the mind blowing, earth shattering, cataclysmic [almost orgasmic] presence of the Lord and then find yourself dealing with something that just irritates the “hell” out of you. It’s difficult enough to simply gain access to the third heaven for Paul; this is the only time he mentions it in the entire New Testament [and he is credited with writing more than two – thirds of it], so I think that I would be credible in saying that if he had been to this “third heaven” another time, he probably would’ve mentioned it. [But] Just as Paul is mute about his “third heaven experience”, at this point of the text he also is silent about this irritation that he calls “the thorn in his flesh.” He just gives us four small things about it: first off, THE THORN CAUSES PAUL TO REFLECT ON WORSHIP.
II Corinthians 12:7 – And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me [a messenger of Satan to buffet me] lest I be exalted above measure.
Now, this is where Paul really reached out and grabbed me because even though he has just visualized the third heaven and heard inexpressible words and he has seen indescribable deeds, when the thorn invades his personal space, he looks at the thorn as having an assignment. In other words, the thorn keeps him level headed. Even though he doesn’t want the thorn causing him tremendous pain, it also keeps his pride at a minimum. [Because] The truth of the matter is that NOT EVERYBODY has an opportunity to visit the third heaven. Some of us won’t make it to the first one, much less the third one if we don’t confess Jesus as Lord and live sacrificially for Him. [But] What Paul does is make whatever is bothering him [whether it’s a physical or psychological ailment or affliction] a reason to reflect on the vision he had just witnessed. That should help somebody because your pain and your processes should make you reflect on the time that you’ve spent in communion and communication with the Master. Watch what transpires within the text, because you’ll discover that Paul was granted special access. The Lord blessed him with an eyewitness account of something that no one else had ever witnessed, but in order to keep Paul from becoming “exalted” [the literal Greek is translated “huperairomai” (hoop – er – ah’ – ee – rom – ahee) which means in the middle voice “to exalt oneself over or to become haughty”]. It’s amazing how when God gives us special access we act “brand new.” We have the terrible proclivity to act foolish when it’s been God who has been blessing us and giving to us and shielding us and preserving us. So, what has to happen as a result is that God allows the enemy to come in and keep us reflective of our worship. What people don’t understand is that church in and of itself doesn’t get you through your thorns; worship is what does it. Just coming to church because you’re being made to or for some other manufactured reason will not empower you to survive your thorn; Paul was able to make it even in the midst of his affliction because he remembered that he had spent time in the third heaven [in the presence of God]. [And] It is the thorn causing Paul to reflect upon his worship that moves us to the second suggestion within the text; when Paul goes to the Lord to talk to Him, the text also suggests that THE THORN COMMUTES WITH PAUL WHEN HE REQUESTS A WAY OUT.
II Corinthians 12:8 – Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord…
This thorn [this irritant] bothers Paul so much that he talks it over with the Lord. “Lord, we’ve got to talk about working this out. I just experienced something life changing, but now as I wish to bask in the experience of this event that fills my heart with joy, I have to deal with my issues and my humanity because it is threatening to take away the joy of what I just experienced with You.” Even in Paul being silent about what he saw in the third heaven and what he’s going through with this thorn, he hasn’t been moved to talk YET. [But] What I must also mention is that when Paul starts talking, Paul doesn’t talk to me or to you or to somebody else; He talks to the One who can make his situation better. Some of us need to take some notes from Paul because we complain to everybody about what we’re going through, but when it’s time to talk to God, we clam up. We can’t talk to God because we’re so busy talking to other people, and even if people DID care about what I was going through, there would still be only so much they could do. I need to talk to the Master, because I don’t call Him “the Master” for nothing. What fascinates me is that when Paul goes to talk to the Master, he doesn’t go alone; the thorn comes with him. Paul is unable to leave the thorn at his house and meet the Lord in the temple; when Paul inquires of the Lord, the thorn is right there with Paul. As a matter of fact, I would imagine that the Lord could see the thorn working on Paul and Paul working to get rid of it. Some of us try to fix our problems on our own, but we need to bring our problems to the Lord and let Him assess what we’re supposed to do. You’re acting like you’re not dealing with anything, because you don’t want to let anybody know that when they “take a good look at your face, it seems your smile looks out of place, and it’s real easy to trace the tracks of your tears.” [But] I dare somebody to lay your burdens down, because the songwriter said, “I feel better, so much better…” Things may not be perfect, but when I talk to God, He sees my pain. In actuality, before I even made it up in my mind that I wouldn’t be able to handle this on my own, He saw me coming. Talk to the prodigal son for a moment and he’ll tell you: “when I was unable to handle the responsibilities of life and the requirements of living – when I was unable to handle the pressures and the squeezes that life can place upon a brother, I came down the road with a thorn called immaturity – a thorn called irresponsibility in my side. [But] I’m glad that even before I made it back to my father’s house, he saw me coming.” Is there anybody glad that your Father saw you coming?
So the thorn is already helping Paul, because the first thing it does is cause Paul to reflect upon worship. The second thing the thorn does is that it irritates Paul to the degree that it commutes with Paul when he requests a way out. Thirdly, the thorn is irritating yet illuminative because THE THORN CREATES IN PAUL THE RESOLUTION TO WAIT.
II Corinthians 12:8 – Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
Three times! Three: the number for divinity. Three: the number for holiness. Three times Paul requests of the Master to allow the thorn to depart. I don’t know [this is Biblical conjecture], but I can imagine Paul saying, “Whatever lesson you wanted me to learn Lord, I learned it.” Some of us do God the same way; we get into these complex, character building processes and immediately we want out of the processes. So, some of us will start making promises to God about things that we haven’t been equipped to follow through on yet; therefore, the lesson has not been learned. The lesson is harder to learn if the thorn is taken out before the lesson is assigned and applied; Paul’s experience shows me that the lesson is in enduring the situations and the complications that the thorn brings.
Isaiah 40:31 – For they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint [the strength does not manifest when the Lord gets there; the strength comes from waiting on Him].
Watch what Paul does; he pleads with the Lord on three separate occasions to remove the thorn. Now, there are some days I can deal with my weaknesses and there are some days I can’t. My thorn is my mind; at times it can be my greatest asset and other times it can be my greatest deficiency. Paul takes his thorn to the Lord, but he doesn’t say “Lord, make me better…”; he says, “Lord make it go away.” [And] What we don’t understand is that conflicts make us better. The body responds to physical exercise better than it will to a person lying in the bed all day trying to be comfortable. Some strain upon the body makes it more resistant to colds and viruses; you need some strain upon the body to make it more resilient and more resourceful. [But] Even in research supporting that certain amounts of strain are good for the body, you find more people getting on the couch and more people sitting down and more people trying to make it convenient and comfortable for them, yet they wonder why they’re always sick. Some of us don’t need to pray “Lord make it go away” because you wouldn’t be the person you were if you didn’t have that conflict in your life. Some of us know that we wouldn’t pray so much if it wasn’t for that family member that always gets on everybody’s nerves but we just “love them anyhow.” Some of us know that we wouldn’t be in God’s face half the time if ALL our children were in church loving and living for God. Some of us know that we wouldn’t seek God as much if our bank account had just one more zero added to it, and I just believe that conflict is in our lives to remind us to wait on God to orchestrate and participate in the unfolding of our lives. If you really want the Lord to make you better, there comes a point in time when you have to endure some struggles and experience some sacrifices in order for you to be what God wants you to be. [So] When it’s time for my blessing and my breakthrough, God will be thoroughly acquainted with me because I’ve signed my name on His waiting list. I’ve got to get out of here, but the thorn is doing so much for Paul. It causes Paul to reflect on worship. It commutes with Paul when he requests a way out. It creates within Paul the resolution to wait, and lastly THE THORN CRYSTALIZES FOR PAUL A REASON TO WITNESS.
II Corinthians 12:9, 10 – And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
As I close this argument, Paul almost sounds delusional; as a matter of fact, he sounds like Bizarro Superman. In the world of Bizarro Superman, right is wrong, and wrong is right. Evil is good, and good is evil; up is down, and down is up. [But] In actuality, Paul is taking a Christological persuasion and applying it to a Pauline perspective. In other words, he is looking at his situation like the Master is looking at it. This is where Paul has a reason to witness; he has a reason to witness because the Master is speaking to him despite his thorn. He has a reason to tell somebody because the Master didn’t throw him away because of the thorn. As a matter of fact, the thorn drew Paul closer to the Master, and that’s where Paul receives the illumination that the thorn actually helped him rather than hurt him. I’ve got a reason to witness [tell somebody] because the Lord didn’t throw me away when I was dealing with my thorns; I’ve got a reason to shout because I have so many thorns [so many issues, so many weaknesses] that I could’ve platted them up and made two or three crowns out of them. Yet and still, the Master tells me, “My grace…” His grace is all around me despite my thorns; let me prove it to you. I’ve got the Master’s authority above me, so my head is covered. In addition to that, I’ve got His Ambassador [the Holy Spirit] within me, so my heart is covered. In addition to that, I’ve got His agents walking behind me [grace and mercy] so my hind parts are covered. In addition to that, I’ve got His angels assisting me, so my help is covered. In addition to that, I’ve got the Apple of His eye who died for me - He was resurrected for me - He ascended for me - He intercedes for me, and He’s coming back for me, so Heaven is covered...
