The apostle Paul had one. That is, he had something he called a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7). Whatever that thorn was (and I suspect it was a physical ailment), it was a tool of the enemy who surely sought to discourage Paul. God, however, was sovereign over Paul’s life, and He had a purpose for allowing the thorn. Here are some reasons God chooses to leave “thorns” in our lives:
- To keep us humble. That’s clearly the case in 2 Corinthians 12. Paul had been taken into the heavens, but God would not allow him to get arrogant about his experiences. In fact, the text says twicethat God intended to keep Paul humble.
- To make us weak. Paul learned the lesson God intended him to learn: when Paul was at his weakest, God would be his strength—and He’s all the apostle would need. Many of us are simply too strong today for God to use us.
- To make us pray more. We can assume from his writings that Paul had a vibrant prayer life, but he nevertheless prayed multiple times for God to remove his thorn. God did not respond as Paul wanted, but He surely was pleased that the apostle turned to Him in his pain.
- To make us a witness to the world. You see, it’s not when we’re rejoicing on the mountaintop that we’re the strongest witness of God’s love and empowerment; rather, it’s when we still rejoice even when we’re in the deepest valley. The world takes note when our thorn is incredibly painful, yet we sing God’s praises anyway.
- To teach us the power of His grace. We speak often about grace, but that doesn’t mean we really appreciate it. We don’t know how sweet that grace is until it’s all we have left. When God’s grace is all we have, it’s ever-present, always available, and sufficient for all we need.
- To teach others. We’re doing that now. Because of this story in Paul’s life, you and I can learn today to trust God better when we bear our own thorns. When we learn like Paul to rejoice in whatever state we find ourselves, we’ve gone a long way toward breaking the back of the evil one.
What reasons would you add to this list? How might we pray for you if you’re dealing with a thorn?
I have to suggest that perhaps Mr. Lawless should go back and read verse seven completely. It is clearly stated that the “thorn” is a “messenger of Satan” and infers, strongly, that the demon satan assigned to buffet Paul was because of the abundance of revelations God had revealed to Paul! Therefore, if someone thinks that they have a thorn they should simply determine what great number of revelations they have been given! If very few or none, then they can rest assured they have not had a messenger of satan assigned to them. The scripture is very clear about who assigned the demon, definitely wasn’t God!!!
Why do God allows such destruction on the earth ? Then takes action replenish the earth knowing that people are going to sin again sooner or later. Why not destroy earth for good and move on to something different.
God gives us free will to make decisions. He already knows who will choose him in the end but he lets us lives so we can see for ourselves. We destroy the world, we do bad things, we sin and fall short of the glory of God, because God did not create us to be robots he gave us freedom to make our own choices. He cleans up our messes. He is too much of a gentleman to control us, he knows that even though he could, that to control us like robots would be degrading for us, and he loves us to much to treat us that way. God has a plan for us, that is greater than we could ever imagine. He did not send his son in the world to condemn the world, but that, through him the world might be saved. And if we could just trust him, and all the goodness that he is, to live our lives as he says we should, we can live out that goodness in eternity… Trust God and know that he is good.
I see it this way
I see it this way. God created us to serve and love him. Adam and Eve turned all authority over earth and us to Satan. But we still have another chance to gain what was turned over to Satan.God placed us on earth and made us free will agents. Now that we we’re placed in earth what will you do with what God gave you? God wants us to call on him for everything. He loves us very much. Satan is now the god of this world but who will you follow? You get to choose between eternal life or death. You also enjoy all the beautiful lakes, rivers and beaches God created. We are here temporarily but there is a better place for us and it’s free. What will you choose?