Thorns

Can hardship make us lose focus on Jesus?

Welcome to the latest edition of my Blog! 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The goal of my blog is to give you, the reader, a quick dose of the Word of God and an inspiration to research more on your own. May God open your heart so that the Holy Spirit makes the Bible alive in you and show you the Savior, Jesus Christ! 

On this blog I am reflecting on a song by MercyMe, “Even If”, click HERE to see lyrics video.

I know you are able, I know you can, save through the fire with your mighty hand…

My friend loves to take his grandson on long walks regularly. One day while they were walking, my friend noticed his grandson was not enjoying the walk as he did countless times before. Halfway through the journey, he stopped and started crying. My friend asked him what was wrong. He said one of his feet hurt and he could not walk anymore. So he sat down and cried. The grandfather removed his shoes and found out a small rock has gotten into the kid’s footwear and irritated his foot. My friend removed the stone, and his grandson stretched his arms out so granddad can carry him. My friend graciously picked up his grandson and brought him home on his shoulders.

Paul’s thorn in the flesh!

The story above brings to mind the story in the Bible about the apostle Paul. This man was shown heaven, heard wonders that he was not allowed from talking. Then he was struck and given a thorn in the flesh. 

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NKJV

The Bible does not state what the thorn was. It merely says it was a messenger of Satan, to buffet or beat him daily, and keep him humble. It may have been an infirmity, a physical weakness or ailment. Maybe a disability of some sort. Whatever it was, it made him weak and distressed, since he prayed, actually pleaded, three times for God to take it away. 

Quit or Persevere

We can summarize the story of the thorn as this; God took Paul to the third heaven, his mountain top experience. The thorn weakness kept him humble and relying on God for strength only. 

God did not give Paul this thorn; God allowed Satan to buffet Paul with the thorn, just like He allowed Satan to buffet Job, click HERE to read the story.. 

Sometimes we develop a weakness in our bodies as we get older, and sometimes we lose the function of major body parts. Sometimes we get disabled in our youth by accident or disease. No matter how our thorns get there, we always must make a decision afterward.

Do I feel sorry for myself and quit, or continue the course I was in, by the grace of God? Do I make excuses for my condition and place limits on myself?

Paul did not quit. Even if God did not take the thorn away, Paul relied on God’s strength to continue. That is why he can state that he takes pleasure in weakness and distress, because when weak, then he becomes strong through God’s grace. 

My friend’s grandson made it to his home, carried safely on his back. The grandfather added his strength to the grandson so he can make it home. 

Will we trust God when thorns come?

Do we rely on our strength too much? Does this make us proud of the things we can do? God resists the proud, boastful, and arrogant person. If this describes any of us, a thorn may be in our future. Let us, therefore, humble ourselves before God daily.

In the verse we read about Paul’s thorn, we read five total types of what I call, thorns.

1. Infirmities
2. reproaches
3. needs
4. persecutions
5. distresses

Each one of these may stop a normal human being from continuing on the course they were following. Consider more that one then. Paul said the weaker he was, the stronger he became through Christ!

How weak can we be and carry on?

We can, because the strength comes from God, not us, if we trust God!

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;” 1 Corinthians 1:27 NKJV

INFIRMITIES, NEEDS, AND DISTRESS

When our bodies start to fail, or they fail because of trauma, we fall into distress. If our eyes can no longer see, we tend to give up on work that needed accomplishing and activities we enjoyed. We place excuses for not continuing in the course, the race. We say I need to see to achieve a task. These disabilities, infirmities, become a thorn in our side, a reminder to quit. I mentioned the eyes, but what about the failure of the legs, arms, or hearing. I am impressed with people that continue forward even when their body cannot function. One example, the Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, serves his state even without lower body function. Gets up in the morning and goes to work for us.

The loss of a loved one also causes distress. This type of thorn may be one of the hardest to overcome. Through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can persevere.

PERSECUTIONS, REPROACHES, AND DISTRESS

There are internal thorns and external ones. External thorns are people, circumstances, trouble, placed on our paths. 

I consider distress the outcome of the thorns; it distresses us and causes us to make a choice. Do I continue with the difficulty or stop and find rest?

Even when God gives us the strength to continue working through our internal thorns, the externals thorns will be placed on our paths by the evil one. Perhaps you heard the expression, “this person has become a thorn in my side.” Satan will not rest until he makes us ineffective in proclaiming the gospel to the lost. He will use his influence to place enemies of the gospel in our way. The enemy will kill some of us, and some jailed. Some of us will lose their reputation and their standing in society because of persecutions and reproaches. 

CONQUERORS

To close, let us look at a few questions that Paul ask:

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-39 NKJV

No matter what happens to us, no matter what thorn is distressing us today, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, apart from Him we can do nothing. If God wills to take the thorn away, great, but even if He decides not to, we will trust and hope in God.

Father,

You are the God who calls the stars by name. Be merciful toward us, Lord. If it may be your will, keep the thorns of life away from us. Give us the strength to work through the thorns if they do come our way. We know you work all things for good for those that love you. No matter what, we trust you, Father.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray!

Amen

To God be the glory! 

Everything was created By Him, For Him!

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-25

Disclaimer

I write this blog as I get inspired by God. Consider this writing as a Bible study. Like the Bereans In Acts 17:11, search the Scriptures to find out whether what I write is so. Always consult with your church ministers about biblical matters. I am also not a professional writer, so there may be some grammar or spelling errors. I try my best to write as efficiently as possible. Your brother, In-Christ, Ricardo