2 Corinthians 12:7b-10
Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 9 but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
I have always enjoyed the festivals where various Hot Air Balloon teams gathered to sail the skies. I was able to see the many different shapes and colors flying through the sky in majesty and wonder. But I was more fascinated by how the balloons were inflated to be able to fly. A simple basket with sandbags and ropes tied to stakes were all that kept the balloon on the ground. The operator filled the canvas with hot air heated by a gas jet and up the balloon went and when the air cooled the balloon would come down. Both the gas jet and the weight of the sandbags were how one could control the movements of the hot air balloon.
The reason for the ropes and stakes were to keep the balloon on the ground until ready to depart, Paul speaks of something similar for the purpose of keeping him grounded in his work, therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. The thorn in the flesh was specifically given to Paul to keep him on the ground to keep his ego or pride humble as he serves. One can easily become inflated or boastful in one’s work and one’s achievements; Christ gave Paul something to keep him from succumbing to pride and to keep him humble. We do not know specifically what it was, but we know it was present.
I wonder if it is the same with us? We also serve Christ, we have been equipped with spiritual gifts: wisdom in governing, charisma in preaching, compassion in serving, intelligence in teaching. What if we all have also been equipped with thorns in our flesh? It certainly feels at times that we don’t have a thorn in flesh, we feel we might have the entire rose bush. But, how come we never look at our thorns in the flesh as also serving an important purpose, to keep us humble, to keep us from pride? We might have our positive gifts to empower us to at times miraculous works, but we might also have our struggles to keep us grounded, to keep us humble.
Perhaps human nature wants to alleviate our struggles and our difficulties. Paul certainly did, three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me. I wonder how many of us have prayed, and maybe even more than three times for our thorns to leave us. We seem to possess something in our nature that appreciates strength and success and disvalues suffering and weakness. We want God’s positive gifts and ask for an abundance of them, we balk when it comes to the thorns in the flesh which also serve God’s purposes, to keep us grounded and humble.
Curiously, Jesus responds to Paul’s prayers with the answer no one wants to hear, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that the Creator is sufficient for every creature. The power and strength of God is given to every creature to provide for daily existence. Anyone can become strong because God gives them strength. God is sufficient for everyone. The challenge lies in staying grounded. One taste of God’s power and we can become tempted to become gods in pride, not needed God any longer. We are given God’s power, but God’s power is made complete in our weaknesses, not strengths.
My friends, we all have been blessed with spiritual gifts, but we also have been blessed with thorns in the flesh to keep us grounded and humble. The challenge of daily discipleship is our perception of those thorns as blessings instead of curses and stop asking that they be removed. God’s grace is sufficient for anyone, but God’s power is made perfect in our weaknesses or thorns. Perhaps faith then does not seek our sufferings, that would be masochistic. But faith does accept our thorns as teachers, training us for the Kingdom of God. Therefore, let us every day be content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. Amen.
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