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Paul's Thorn In The Flesh - 2 Cor 12
Paul's Thorn In The Flesh - 2Cor 12
The life of Paul in serving God was full of God's intervention. While it is easy to see all the trouble that Paul encountered as he lists them for us, underneath all of this is the fact that God was with Him through all of it. The fact that he was allowed to see and hear things from the very realm of God was unique among men, even among the apostles.
Such is heady stuff! Many men have shipwrecked their character upon their successes. Pride, arrogance, and an over-estimation one's self is not compatible with the character of God's people. If that had happened to Paul in his position and work, it would have been a disaster to the very cause of Christ. Thus by the providence of God, God protected Paul by giving him a 'thorn in the flesh' (2Cor. 12:7).
· Paul learned to trust God rather than his own strength.
· The faith of his converts was based firmly upon God and not on Paul's character, ability, appearance, or person. God gets glorified and not Paul.
· Those who were familiar with Paul's life would not be discouraged when they themselves encountered such problems.
· In our weakness we also turn to God.
· Interesting to me is the fact that God did NOT remove the problem for Paul. The 'problem' was actually given by the grace of God.
What makes this difficult is trying to understand if this is God's normal way of dealing with people or if this is unique because Paul was an apostle. The revelations, being caught up to paradise, hearing things that can not be uttered to others, all of these argue for this being a special working of God in the life of an apostle. Yet, underlying these things, there seems to be some principles:
· We are weak and need God.
· God is able to do what our weakness cannot.
· Our weakness actually sets the stage for God to accomplish things to His glory.
However, even knowing these things, dealing with continuing problems in our lives is difficult. Do they push you closer to God, or away from Him?
Hugh DeLong
