2 Corinthians 12:7-10
When God Says No
Have you ever received a “no” answer from God? It hurts, right? You think you know best, you really do. And then God says, “I don’t think so.” Well, it particularly hurts when you’ve been suffering, and not only does God not remove the suffering, but maybe he tells you it’s good for you. That’s what is happening to the Apostle Paul and his thorn in the flesh in today’s scripture. So ...
What is a “thorn in the flesh”?
It reminds me of when one of our dogs gets a grass burr or sand burr in their paw. It hurts. It’s irritating. The Greek word here is “skolops” (not the seafood!), which was used for anything pointy: everything from a stake or thorn to a surgical instrument or the point of a fishhook. So what was it? Some people think it was ...
Physical. After all, Paul said he had a thorn in the FLESH. The most common suspicion is some form of opthalmia, because elsewhere Paul alluded to poor vision, and once even said he knew people would give him their eyes if they could (Galatians 4:15). Other folks think maybe he had migraine headaches, or epilepsy, or malaria, or leprosy, or maybe a speech impediment, since he said he wasn’t a very good public speaker. So maybe it was physical. Or maybe it was ...
Emotional. Maybe it was some kind of depression. Maybe it was a sadness that Paul never could seem to break through with the gospel to his own people, the Jews. Or maybe it was ...
Social. Maybe Paul was just so frustrated with being harassed and ridiculed and beaten up and left for dead in city after city. Maybe he was tired of the constant criticism and attacks on his character, with no basis behind it. Maybe it was ...
Spiritual. Maybe it was anxiety or sexual temptation. Or maybe it was PTSD compounded by guilt in being complicit in the early deaths of so many Christians.
Do you want to know the answer? Would you like to know what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was? The answer is ... we don’t know! And you know what? It’s a good thing, because every one of us can believe that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was our thorn in the flesh. Every one of us can identify with Paul, because we all have a thorn in the flesh.
So when it comes to that pesky thorn that God refuses to move, let’s learn from Paul. First,
1. Remember the one in control (God allows it)
The first thing you need to know about your own thorn in the flesh is that God has allowed it to be there. Paul acknowledges this with his choice of wording in verse 7: “I was given a thorn in my flesh.” Right before today’s passage, Paul has been talking about all of the great visions of heaven God has given him. Now, to keep him from getting a big head about it all, he talks about this thorn in the flesh. He doesn’t spell out God’s part, but he acknowledges it nonetheless. Scholars call it a “divine passive.” Paul rightly saw God as the unseen Agent overseeing the entire process. And so, when Paul asks for it to be taken away, he appeals to the Lord, not the devil who sent it. As with the story of Job, we see that nothing happens—not even Satan’s evil—without God’s expressed allowance. Why is this important?
If you are a child of God, and God allows some harm to befall you, God has something good already in mind he can bring from your trial. One scholar notes, “Behind any and every machination of Satan, Paul could discern the overarching providence of a God who perpetually created good out of evil” [“The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Romans-Galatians,” David Garland, ed., 533]. Know that God’s love for you is absolutely perfect. It far exceeds any earthly love we have for our own children. God always acts out of complete lovingkindness toward you. God will never allow you to go through anything that will not bring him glory and you good in the end.
This week of Independence Day, I can only imagine how bad it must have looked at times for those early patriots who sought independence from a tyrannical government. The nation declared its independence on July 4, 1776 but it took a long seven years to reach peace with England. During that time, many leaned heavily on their God to see them through.
You may feel like you’re losing a battle here and there, but God will win the war. You have a tactical view; God has the strategic view. Lean heavily on the one who allows you to endure whatever you’re facing. He will see you through to the other side. Remember the one in control, and secondly …
2. Recognize the source of all evil (Satan brings it)
As in the story of Job, it is Satan who brings all evil, all harm, all destruction into our lives. He only moves with God’s permission, but he still moves. Paul refers to his thorn in the flesh as “a messenger of Satan, to torment me” (verse 7b). He recognizes that all evil, including this tormenting, buffeting, thorn, comes from the evil one. While he knows that God has allowed it, he never blames God. Instead, he holds Satan responsible, the one whom Jesus said comes to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).
Paul’s thorn in the flesh may not be the same thorn for you or me. Satan studies our weaknesses. Like a master tactician, he brings us temptations and trials tailored for us. Yet, God will protect us as we turn to him. And that brings us to our third area. When it comes to our thorn in the flesh, God allows it, Satan brings it, and you can accept it as you ...
3. Rely on God’s strength in your weakness (you can accept it)
In Paul’s life, he realizes that God has a purpose behind the thorn. Three times Paul has prayed for its removal, reminding us of the three times Jesus prayed in Gethsemane for the removal of the cross. And in both cases, God said no. Jesus said, “Your will be done.” Paul hears from God, “My grace is sufficient.” Philip Hughes calls this phrase “the summit of the epistle, the lofty peak from which the whole is viewed in true proportion” [“Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians,” Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962, 451.] And Paul replies, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” In other words, “My weakest moments are the times I have to rely on God’s strength the most, and thus, when my own testimony becomes the greatest: that without God there is no way I could endure.”
Think about this: if you could do it all without God, then you wouldn’t need God. That’s basically what Satan thought when he became so prideful that God threw him out of heaven. He thought he didn’t need God. And this is why people go to hell today, because they think they don’t need God. It takes humility to admit that you have a weakness, a sin problem, that you cannot overcome on your own. And that’s how God saves you, by admitting that when you are weak, he is strong.
Like Paul, we remain humble when we know we must rely heavily on God’s grace. As Charles Stanley says, “Whatever brings you to your knees in weakness carries the greatest potential for your personal success and spiritual victory.”
I met a man once who had served earlier as a vocational minister, then had experienced a moral failure. When I met him, he figured God was done with him. He believed he could never be a vocational minister again. Yet, I challenged him on God’s grace. Henry Blackaby might say, this man’s belief said a lot more about God than it did about himself. He was in essence saying, “God’s grace is not enough for my sin. What I did was too bad, too evil to be forgiven.” So I told him, “Are you saying 1 John 1:9 must not be right when it says, ‘If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness?’” When he thought about it that way, he didn’t want to call God a liar. He didn’t want to meet Jesus someday in heaven and say, “Your cross was not enough.” So a favorite scripture between the two of us became, “Thy grace is sufficient.”
You see, God’s grace can take away your guilt, and God’s grace can also keep you humble, as you live in constant need of it. The gospel is not just a one-time event to secure your salvation; it is our very life, day in and day out. God keeps us dependent on him in relationship. He is our Lord and we are his people. So that we can honestly say, “When I am weak, that’s when I am strong! Because God’s grace is all I need.” Let us pray.
Thank you, Father, for your amazing grace. We couldn’t make it without it. When we wonder about that thorn in the flesh, why you don’t take it away, help us to hear your whisper to our soul, “I am with you. I am enough for you. I will turn your weakness into strength as you trust me with your thorn.” Thank you that you can shine through the weaknesses of our lives as we follow you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
