I've spent much time in thought and silent prayer, organizing in my mind and soul on how this message should be presented. I wanted to be certain that what I was about to say would be based primarily upon the Word of God and not merely a repeat of topics that I have covered in previous posts. I want to focus on the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, and less rehash of personal rants, complaints, and my inner desires to witness fire from heaven come down and consume the enemies of God as I see them. I'm not getting soft nor desire to surrender to the forces of those who promote a "Six Flags over Jesus" type of Christianity. I will always stand for the integrity and truth of the Word of God and salvation exclusively through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. What I want to present in this message is a personal journey on how the Sovereign LORD has used times of troubles and dark times in my life to show me the preciousness of Who He is and that what has occurred can be compared to the pain of a thorn and the lessons it teaches, and I want to use the example of Paul and his times of travail. I am in no way comparing myself, nor should you, to this giant of the faith as far as his wondrous accomplishments go, but Paul, like all of Christ's good soldiers, had his rough times and what the Scriptures say about times such as these are for our encouragement, maturity in the faith, and focus on the big picture: Jesus is returning soon, and everything we have endured for His sake will be worth it as we have all eternity to spend with Him and our brethren, so hang on and let's proceed.
In 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, the Apostle Paul is writing about his vision of being in the "third heaven", seeing things that he was not allowed to discuss or present to anyone. This was right after he had described the hardships he had endured for the sake of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 11:23-33), and the call that the Lord Jesus had placed on him (Acts 9:1-6, 15,16). Notice that when the Lord Jesus informed Ananias that he was to seek out Paul and pray over him, He also told him that Paul would "suffer many things for My name's sake". In reading both Acts and the letters to the churches he wrote, the promise of Jesus that Paul would indeed suffer came to pass, probably more than what he expected. He wrote about his weariness and despair (2 Corinthians 1:8), and his struggles of the flesh (Romans 7:18-25). He blew up at his faithful ministry companion Barnabas over reinstating John Mark in their missionary journeys, so much so that they separated, but later reconciled (Acts 15:36-41; 2 Timothy 4:11).
Paul, like everyone else in the Bible, was a flesh and blood fallible individual (James 5:17). I want to turn our attention specifically to a problem that irritated this great lion of God so much that he asked the LORD three times to remove it. That problem was his "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7-8) His request for relief was probably grounded in the idea that enough was enough. He had gone through rough times and hardships that none of us could even imagine, and even the best of God's saints will ask for some relief from heaven every so often. He had years of adventures and difficulties in presenting the Gospel message to his fellow Jews and the Gentiles who made up the vast Roman Empire. He was both admired and despised. One particular act of hatred resulted in being pummeled with stones to the point where his friends thought he was dead (Acts 14:19-20). Paul surprised everyone by getting up and heading right back into the city of Lystra where the stoning had taken place. You have to admit that this is the act of one "tough old bird" who would not injuries prevent him from preaching the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16). Bible scholars believe that this was when Paul received his heavenly vision. The glory of heaven awaited him, and he knew that the troubles he had undergone were worth it in terms of the reward and honor His Savior would give him (2 Timothy 4:6-8). That would come later, but first, the thorns. Why?
Let's put this into perspective in terms of his effectiveness for the LORD'S service and not on what would be an obvious point of discussion in the present day "evangelical" world, that of the numerous "trips to heaven" made by so-called modern day "anointed of God" individuals who wax eloquent about what they allegedly witnessed and experienced in the portals of glory. I'll get to this issue momentarily, but what I want to focus on for now is that God in His wisdom used the thorn, whatever it was, as an object lesson for Paul, and everyone who truly follows the Lord Jesus. He chooses at times to place thorns of adversity in our lives in order that we keep focused on Him and not on ourselves. In my journey with the LORD, the thorns He has placed in my life over the years have directed me to the following truths as it relates to both His Sovereignty and holiness.
The thorns God puts in our life are reminders that He is indeed precious, holy, and gracious. We are to approach Him in reverence. He controls our lives. God is never to be treated with anything less than the respect, love, and devotion due Him. He knows that I have tended to center on myself, my complaints, and what I thought was an unfair treatment in terms of my bouts with both physical and mental illness. The thorns he has placed in me have directed me to see that He is in charge, and I am not, and for that, I thank Him. Be honest. You've had the same thoughts and responses, haven't you?
The thorns I have endured remind me that the sacred calling He placed on me to be not only His follower, but to proclaim His Gospel, is not something to take lightly or misuse. I have been in the Gospel ministry for nearly forty years. Not all of it was centered in obedience to Him, but what I thought was obedience to Him. Instead, I did my own thing in the vain hope that He would bless it. As a result, I put my family through situations that did not have to happen if I had just taken time to pray earnestly before the LORD and with them to see what HE wanted, not something I thought He said, only to have it fall to pieces. Billy Graham once said that if he could go back to the beginning of his evangelistic ministry, he would have spent less time on the road and more time in prayer, Bible study, and spend more time with his family. I agree with him. God forgive us who have been called to minister in His name and have used that call to justify what ended up as foolish and irresponsible acts, often at the cost of family relationships and of authentic areas of service that could have existed and thrived if we had only stopped to honestly seek Him and His will. Brother minister, would you be this honest before the LORD as well?
The obvious reason God put the thorn in Paul's flesh (again, whatever it might have been) was to keep this man of God not only humble before Him, but to keep him useful for service and not end up with an ego and a sense of "entitlement" in that he got to see heaven and others did not. If Paul wanted to make a name for himself in the early church, all he had to do would have been to tell the churches about his "trip to heaven" with all the details. It seems that a lot of "Christians" in these last days want to make that a centerpiece of their testimony. These false and self-centered fabrications of "heavenly tourism" have NO precedence over what God has written in His Word (Luke 16:27-31; 2 Peter 1:16-21). The glory of heaven and the majesty and holiness of God Almighty are rarely if ever mentioned in their fanciful tales. Even if what they witnessed was factual, the very presence of the Sovereign LORD should have had them trembling in fear, reverence, and awe. I see none of that with these people. Do you have an ego in terms of service to the LORD? He has ways of cutting that out of your system, friend, and it is not pleasant. We are to be humble before Him, remember that we are accountable to Him and will be held to a stricter standard (James 3:1). That has sobered me at times when I thought I was indispensable and not expendable (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27). What say you?
God puts thorns in our lives in order to direct us to fields of ministry that we never considered. Too often those of us who are in what would be defined as "full-time ministry" get a bad case of tunnel vision and that what we are doing is the ONLY means of service that can possibly be approved by Him. For instance, believing that we can only serve Him is in the field of pastoral ministry. We have dreams of grandeur while in seminary, Bible college, or regular life that if some church, desperate for the godly wisdom and service we could render for the LORD would only call us, life would be sublime, God would be in His heaven, and all would be right with the world. Let's put the brakes on that. I beat my head against the wall for a long time chasing this fantasy and I have the rejection letters to prove it. I have the persistence of a mule, and so, in His mercy, the LORD knocked it into my stubborn head that this was not the road of ministry I was to take, period.
In the past few years, I have had to deal with kidney problems, asthma, a brain stem stroke, as well as a lifelong battle with depression and autism. I have prayed for these problems to be lifted from me, but the LORD has used them to direct me to focus on a new ministry that I had not considered, online evangelism and writing. Instead of complaining that I have no physical pulpit and congregation, He has graciously given me an opportunity where all of the Bible studies, sermons, and articles I have written over the past few years for varied Christian websites and ministries be viewed around the world. As a result, I am being used to reach more people with the Gospel than if I were in a regular pastoral setting. This time has also been used by Him to help me with personal relationships and renewal of commitments to my family and friends and has been an open door I would have either missed or ignored had He not knocked me down, given me my series of maladies, and helped me to focus on what He truly had in store for me.
I still get an inner urge to send resumes to local churches every so often, but I also remember that thorns tend to hurt, and I don't like the LORD whacking me on the head, saying in essence, "YA, MULE!!". I suffer from frequent headaches, and I do not need reminders from Him to stay focused on the work of the Word from behind a laptop screen. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this message, I wanted to present something new and original. God is good, so loving, and so gracious to a character like me, and I would hope that you would have the same attitude of thankfulness and reverence in your journey with Him. Jesus Christ is LORD, even when He gives us thorns. For that, I say, "Isn't He wonderful?" Amen.
donaldwhitchard@outlook.com
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