a recent discussion with faithful believers and thoughts on 2 Corinthians 12:9. some of the thoughts repeat in different scenarios to reach the many challenge our churches and families are encountering.
During a recent Bible study, one of
the Bible study members noted that its congregation has dealt with many different “thorns” within these past couple of years, and a
number of members continue to experience suffering – for some it is a beyond-the-scope-of-imagination-or-experience-type
of suffering – even now. Unexpected, unbelievable, unimaginable things. She
guided those of us gathered together with her for Bible study to the passages
in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10.
Verse 9 climaxes Paul’s narrative with a response
from Christ Jesus to Paul’s complaint of a “thorn”— a “messenger of satan”,
that God seems to have ignored or chose not to address as Paul desired: Jesus
tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.” The study group had a meaningful
and encouraging discussion about it. Iron sharpened iron; we were all edified
by this Spirit-informed conversation.
Whatever Paul’s “thorn” was, no one knows; what
Paul does say is that whatever it was, that it was completely
opposite of all of the favor, the many blessings and gifts bestowed upon him by
God (like, for example, Paul was so powerfully used by God that his
handkerchief even “contained” miraculous healing! See Acts 19:11-12). Whatever
the thorn was, it was enough to render him weak in ability and/or capacity, and
seemingly on some level, was emotionally troubling as well. Yet, in this
passage, we see the permissive will of God: in His knowing Paul
since before the foundation of the world, he who was once Saul of Tarsus, a
self-righteous Pharisee of incredible intellect – God could use the “thorn” of
Paul’s suffering as a powerful demonstration of His grace to Paul. God turns
such thorns into “sacred instruments” in His providence.
More on “The Thorn”
and Jesus' Answer.
Paul was not a superman, even though we may see him through the Biblical accounts in a
magnified way. When we closely examine his life, we quickly see that Paul did
not stay on the “mountain top” for any long stretch of time; he was mostly on the
sides of the mountain or traversing the valley – sometimes a very dark valley at
the end of which was persecution or imprisonment. He was just as much flesh and
blood as you and I – he lived in a society that disregarded the God of all
heavens like today. He was as fallible as you and I. Acts 9:1 says that as a
Pharisee he was intent on murdering believers; he himself admits in 1
Corinthians 15:9 that he was undeserving of being an apostle because of his
background. As we read in Acts and in the letters Paul was inspired to write, he
strives to emulate Christ in nearly every human way, but Paul was not fully God
as Jesus was. So, whatever his thorn was, it wasn’t just debilitating – it was
a deeply humbling situation, because it sent Paul crying to his God for relief
three times (in Jewish culture, repeating something three times was the
ultimate penultimate). It became a distraction, one that could take his focus
off the ministry he was assigned. He just wanted God to fix “it” so that he
could do the work he was called to do.
Yet, God in His wisdom and omniscience foreknew this
circumstance. It could potentially become a seed bed for a kind of pride not
befitting of the one anointed by God for His purpose. Continued distraction of trying to puzzle out the "why" could shift his focus to trying to get to the bottom of why, of trying to justify himself on his works, to make
him ineffective in his ministry. So Paul had to be reminded that
everything he needed to continue and endure was already in him, and around him.
Paul was indwelt and covered by God’s special Grace, a Grace that filled Paul
with God’s strength and power. This Grace of power and strength not only
enabled Paul to speak the Spirit’s words (1 Corinthians 14:2,18) and to fully
identify with the Gospel of Christ (Romans 2:16, 16:25), God’s power in Paul transformed
him. Christ’s Spirit – the Lord Himself -- God’s special Grace, sustained
Paul throughout his ministry which was frequently punctuated with physical
suffering, setbacks, discouragement (2 Corinthians 11:23-33; Galatians 3:1-3;
Acts 15:37-38; 2 Timothy 1:15; 4:9-12, 14-18). In the strength and joy of the
Lord, to whom Paul was yoked, Paul was empowered to carry out the immense
charge and responsibility God had placed upon him to plant communities of
worship in Asia and Europe. As Paul would say from time to time, it would
appear that he did have reason to boast. Yet, the presence of the thorn reminded him of how helpless he was; it is hard to boast when you are down on your knees or face before the LORD seeking solace and aid. Despite Paul's powerful gifts, he was incapable of healing and fixing the situation - God did not allow him to do so.
In these last days filled with crises of one kind
or another, especially those that are so unexpected and shocking, we, too, need
to be reminded of who we are. That we are indwelt with the same power that
raised Jesus from the dead, that we have a supernatural power from God to help
us remain faithful to our call and to our God. That in God’s permissive will He
is guiding us towards a future with Him, and sometimes it takes a “thorn” to
reset us and remind us that we can do nothing without God, and that He is in
control of all things for a purpose still as yet unrevealed. That Paul's misery is a 
Example of the early church fellowship and care.
recorded account in scripture, it would appear that - in addition, God could use the example of Paul’s determined perseverance and
endurance in the face of his suffering as a teaching example that harmonized
with the cautions and admonitions that he shared with recipients of his
apostolic and Spirit-directed letters. He was God’s example to the newly converted and established churches of what the power of God that indwells Christ
followers could do in the purpose of God and in the face of significant challenge.
When one examines the first 100 years
of Christianity, immediately one sees that it was no “picnic” – not even close.
Although false prophets preached a type of prosperity gospel back then, the
Christian life would not have reflected such teaching. Those faithful followers who had
some measure of wealth, or who had been blessed with provisions, shared it with community
(see 2 Corinthians 8). The food insecurities, housing insecurities, the
religious oppression from Jewish and idol worshipers, tax burdens that could
result in loss of property, family members, and jail, diseases and more were
all a part of the common daily experience in that environment that impacted
all, even faithful Christians. Even with the healing gifts of some within the
Christian community, life was still difficult and death was not a stranger. There are miraculous deliveries and rescues, but they were not the experience of everyone in the body of Christ. (see Revelation 2 and 3)
Paul
and the other apostles always pointed to Christ and His promises of salvation,
indicating that salvation did not assure a “smooth ride to heaven.” Christians’
earthly journey then and throughout all time through to the present would
be accompanied by various kinds of pain and suffering because (1) they bore the
name of Jesus, and (2) because people – Christians included -- carry the impacts of
Adam’s sin in our broken bodies. (look up in your Bible concordance or in
online Bible search engines words like suffer, pain, illness, disease, persecution, etc.)
Yet, in the suffering that emanates from those things, God would reveal Himself
to His people in ways not experienced in times of peaceful calm.
As eloquent and “spiritual” as all of this sounds, even “idyllic” – the words of the 2
Corinthians message disturb us, does not sit well in
our “modern times” of what we believe an Almighty, loving God looks like. May be
okay for some religious leaders and pious Christians, but “regular” people? We are stumped that Paul, this pearl in God’s kingdom, this powerful witness for
God would not get healed by God of something that was for Paul so troubling, so
painful, was so distracting to his ministry. All God had to do was speak it and
Paul would be healed and then could carry out the ministry to an even higher
level - right?
In our catastrophes, in our “spiritual attacks” which often come out
of the blue (I am defining spiritual attacks here as direct harassment by satan
that can come in diverse ways, e.g., health crisis/prolonged chronic health
issues, financial crises, relationship crises, violence, etc.); in our
befuddlement and agony, we faithful, like Paul, ask why me, Lord? Why did you
let this happen? Why didn’t you stop it? I know this is true personally because
I’ve said it, and in many conversations with other believers in ours and other
churches of God in all kinds of different circumstances, I’ve heard it said. Like me, sometimes with a lot of emotion and tears.
It is a hard scripture passage to swallow, and we all agreed on that point. It
is personal. That is, it is a situation that unsettles us, troubles our spirits, gives us cause to "pause". Its companion scripture at Romans 8:28, which also
has a hard message inherent in it, sometimes gets carelessly used as a bandaid:
“We know that all things work together for good, for those who love God, who
are called according to His purpose.” Say that 3 times and bam! You’re good.
The bandaid goes on and all is well. No; sure, you can say it scores of
times, but in human experience all is not well. For whatever reason, God has
not removed the “thorn”. It seems as if, to us, who are in deep and raw pain, like He doesn't know it is there because, like Paul, we are waiting for the divine resolution - that becomes our focus. The crisis does not immediately disappear. The miscarriage
does not reverse. The bullet does not return to the gun. Time does not roll
back the vehicle accident. The diagnosis more often than not is not a mistake -
it is real. The abuse and violations of one's personhood do not unhappen.
What we do not often grasp in Romans 8:28 is the depth of what
those “all things” are; our focus is on God making things good. But what if that disturbing situation is a gateway to good?
God contrasts those “all things” against a divine transforming
goodness – which is a certain clue that "all things" must be hard, difficult or even traumatic - otherwise, God would not have to step in to transform or change the "all things". We begin to see that these Roman 8:28 “things” to indeed be difficulties, challenges, traumas and tragedies; they are the epitome of that
“thorn” of Paul’s. And, like with Paul, they leave us helpless.
We are like
Paul: we don't like it; we do not understand; we sit perplexed and keep asking God why, and He
doesn’t answer, not even one syllable. We cry, we beg, we become frustrated, inordinately
perplexed, we get angry (if we are honest, we do get angry with God) because of
the unexpected, undesired and deeply painful circumstance that God will not fix,
or that God allowed to happen. Is He not Jehovah Rapha – Jehovah God our Healer?
Is He not Jehovah Jireh – Jehovah God our Provider? Is He not LORD Sabbaot –
Jehovah God, Host of the Heavenly Armies? Is He not Jehovah Rohi – Jehovah our
Shepherd? Is He not El Roi – the God Who Sees!? Is He not Jehovah Chesed – God of
Mercy and Love? Then, why??? Did I do something wrong and am now being
punished? Is that how it is, Lord?
In her Gospel song and expanded prayer, “Held,”
Natalie Grant puts to music the shocking, terrible, and painful loss of her
friend’s two month old baby, and tries to understand the why of having something so "sacred torn from your life, but you survive" in the wake of such. Why "there was no sudden healing," "who told us we'd be rescued and why should we be saved from
nightmares”, “we who believe?” "we who have died to live - it's unfair?" We cry, It's not fair! and we continually ask Why??? She concludes, finally, "that the promise was when everything fell, we'd be held."
Gospel songwriter Bart Millard (MercyMe) takes
his so bewildering daily struggle of caring for a beloved child who has
juvenile diabetes, the crises of sugar imbalances and the scary times they share in that journey, the sorrow of knowing he cannot save his child from the condition that can go awry at any moment and place his son in the emergency room, again – and he turns his painful reality into a song called “Even If”. The song says,
“what do I say when I’m held to the flame like I am right now? I know You’re
able and I know You can, save through the fire with Your mighty hand, but even
if You don’t, my hope is You alone; I know the sorrow and I know the hurt,
would all go away if You just say the word, but, even if You don’t, my hope is You
alone…” How can he say that? For a while, he couldn’t. He couldn't see a happy ending. For Christians who have similar circumstances even we ask, How can I say
that as I watch my child in a hospital bed with more tubes than I can
count? Or hold onto my child as they begin painful medical procedures, or have
to go the morgue to identify my child's body? Bart tells us, even with tears and in helplessness, even
if he cannot see any movement towards a healing outcome, and that his sorrows all
seem to have somehow bypassed God, that we must remind ourselves of who God is
and who we are to Him. That even though we are like grass that fades when
the harsh wind blows, how can we not say those words? How can we not say those words that even if you don't heal my child, my sister, my brother, my spouse, my mother, my father: no matter what, God - I will still trust you. I will still trust you.
God did not send
Jesus to the cross for us to have everlasting life in these bodies and in this world. God loves us too much to impose an eternity of pain and suffering on His children. He placed Jesus on the cross so that when all righteousness is executed, we could have a hope, a “blessed assurance” that what God has promised will come to
pass and that we will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14-15). We need to believe it even though we can't understand it, and yes, that is hard, it is so hard to praise and trust God in such times. This world conditions us to think that we can solve our problems through sheer determination, that when we do all of our Christian service, we deserve to have our problems solved. There are some preachers who will tell you the same thing. But we cannot understand God's ways because we are not God - His ways and work do not follow human logic. (Isaiah 55:8-11) Notice that God says (NRSV) that His Word "shall accomplish that which I purpose; and succeed in the thing for which I sent it." What His purpose is and what His will is in a given circumstance will be revealed in God's timing. He Who sees the end from the beginning and lives in the eternal present operates on a level we cannot reach in our flesh.
Horatio Spafford processes his indescribable
grief and loss, putting those jagged emotions into words: “though satan should
buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control: that
Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed His own blood for my
soul”, in the hymn that became, “It is Well with My Soul.” He sent his wife and daughters on a ship across the ocean with plans to join them later. But a tragic accident during the crossing resulted in the death of his four daughters; he had previously lost a son to scarlet fever.
All of these persons
and countless others – and that number will keep growing – who have walked a
dark path, suffered unique pain and loss like some of us reading this, have had
their faith tested as if by fire. As one person put it, they have "been to the cross". There are a number of Bible-based hymns and
gospel songs that are Spirit-inspired to encourage and strengthen us during
difficulties, and that praise the God of all comfort and encouragement. Singing the words and promises of God is comforting and like balm to our spirit. When we
truly know God as a comforter and encourager - when our hearts are tied inexplicably to Him, our Shepherd, even though the
pain remains, the tears return unbidden, the raw emotion comes out of a secret place, and the difficult conditions continue, we can turn to Him and seek His face
and words of comfort through song and prayer in the Spirit based on His scripture.
A number of church communities that have suffered losses during the pandemic and are struggling to return to in-person, are finding it challenging on many levels. Some of their members are still reeling from the after-effects of COVID, suffering long-COVID, and are enduring other complications such as chronic diseases, loss of employment and income, housing insecurity, trying to make ends meet. Add to those challenges, very unexpected and unanticipated crises that have befallen them, some worship communities are finding themselves being held to the flame in ways we could have never imagined, through trials and
revelations that rip through us like a sharp talon; situations that cause us to
have flashes of waking nightmares that seem to never end. Even though we know the end time prophecies backward and forward; what we didn't know was how they would feel, how they would impact us, and how would our faith stand up? And then, when all of the angst bears down on us mightily, we hear Jesus
tell us His grace is sufficient. How do we respond to Christ? How well do we know the author of
that Grace? I'm not talking about the children's picture book version, nor the little baby in the manger version, but rather the version where Jesus shows Himself disgraced
on the cross for us, the version where Jesus emerges with power incorruptible from the tomb after 3 days dead, the version Jesus shows us of Himself ascending victoriously to heaven, the version Jesus shows us of
Himself in
The Revelation of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
 |
King Jesus, Mighty God, Eternal Father
Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega |
We need to seek
this Jesus Christ with all fervor, we need to comprehend what His grace
is, we need to know how to live in that divine Grace and experience its strength
and power just as Paul had to learn to experience it. Don't wait until the fury of hell is upon us to try to establish our relationship with Jesus. We need to start now, on our knees, with the knees of our hearts bent in submission to Him, with our Bibles open before us, waiting for God. While
we wait, we are to be working in His purpose (thus we need to know what God's purpose is for us - not what we wish God to do for us), we need to be praising and adoring Him, and living lives of praise. We are to
be worshiping Him in obedience - obedience is essential (contemplate Jesus' words recorded below as if you were there when He said them: John 14:21, 23-24; 15:7,9-10,14 - see His face in your mind's eye as He spoke those words to His closest friends). We need to remember and embrace the truth that God has
placed within us who are saved and being sanctified a supernatural power through His Spirit to enable us to do the
work He has called us to do in His power. "If God is for us who can stand against us?" (Romans 8:31) That same Spirit determines what that
will look like as He makes us like Christ, transforms us for living into
eternity with the Lord.
When we become able to grasp and
experience the fullness of God’s special grace in us, we will see God taking our
pain and suffering and using them as sacred instruments to deepen our trust in and relationship with Him, to learn the hidden treasures God reveals
in that divine space (Isaiah 45:3; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10). We may not know on
this side of heaven why God permitted these things, but we can be assured that God
will use our difficult circumstances in a way that will shatter our doubts, increase our faith, will bless us and others, and glorify His name. Those are the “good” of Romans
8:28.
As long as we are in the flesh, we will want to
continue to lean into Jesus, to know Him as the embodiment of all Grace, dwelling
within us as we travel a journey where the path is narrow, where there are
obstacles – hills and valleys, where there are no U-turn signs, where there
is no apparatus to process our agony other than God’s provision, and where we
stumble and fall from the crushing weight of the circumstance. We will at times
not know where or how we are going and getting through this because the attacks
are so sharp and unrelenting.
No, it is not easy; God did not promise that
Fair nor Easy would be our constant companions on this journey. Instead,
He promised that He would be. That He would not only walk
with us, but guide us through. That He would commune with us, set a table of
sweet communion in the presence of our enemies and our “thorns” - who and
whatever they are. He takes us on our journey into places of oases – prayer and
fellowship, worship with those of the Body of Christ – others who also travel the
narrow path to refresh and encourage us. (1 Corinthians 12:26; 2 Corinthians 1:3-6; 1 Peter 5:9) Friends, those of us who have been on this road in our journey know that it takes more than an "acquaintance" with Jesus to be able to find that solace, that healing of heart and spirit. If we are skimpy in our relationship with Jesus during so-called easy times, when the mountains fall on us, we do not have a firm hold on who our Savior is and are at our wit's end trying to cope on so many levels. Don't believe those false "prosperity gospel" promises - that if you go to church, donate a lot of money, and do good deeds you will have a life of ease and material blessings, and cannot be hurt by anything. Hard times are going to come - no matter if you are a believer or if you are a person who does not believe in Jesus Christ as God and Savior. We will all be touched by pain and suffering at some point in our lives as long as we live in these bodies and on earth - for some, it may be for prolonged periods.
Those who do believe in Jesus, when we entreat
His presence and participate in that communion He has graced us with, we are enabled to choose to not be
discouraged, to choose to have a joy that is a “settled assurance that God is
in control of all the details of [our lives], the quiet confidence that
ultimately everything is going to be all right [in God’s timing and in God’s way],
and [to translate our circumstance] through the determined choice to praise God
in all things.”
For us who love God and are called according to His purpose, we receive the
strength and power of His Grace. The Spirit of Christ living in us Who is greater than our worst enemy. (1 John
4:4) Even with tears. Even though the storm rages and our physical self is buffeted
and we are knocked off our feet. Even in our deepest of sorrows and our most raw emotions, God is here with us; His Grace comes upon us powerfully. That same grace will heal our broken hearts and spirits and aliven us so that we may come to know and cherish that
He is our hope alone ,
and in both awe and renewed commitment, we will hear ourself say “it is well
with my soul, for His grace is sufficient.”
Dr. Charles Stanley recently aired a two-part series on “Our Great Encourager”. This first
part in a series offers knowledge on understanding who God our comfort is - Part 1, and in Part 2, the message continues as to how God encourages us in our difficulties.
https://www.intouch.org/listen/radio/our-great-encourager-part-1;
