A Thorn in the Flesh a message by Geoff Thompson

A THORN IN THE FLESH Reading: 2-3 Fourteen years ago I[a] was taken up to heaven* for a visit. Don’t ask me whether my body was there or just my spirit, for I don’t know; only God can answer that. But anyway, there I was in paradise, 4 and heard things so astounding that they are beyond a man’s power to describe or put in words (and anyway I am not allowed to tell them to others). 5 That experience is something worth bragging about, but I am not going to do it. I am going to boast only about how weak I am and how great God is to use such weakness for his glory. 7 I will say this: because these experiences I had were so tremendous, God was afraid I might be puffed up by them; so I was given a physical condition which has been a thorn in my flesh, to hurt and bother me and prick my pride. 8 Three different times I begged God to make me well again. 9 Each time he said, “No. But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities. 10 Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite happy about “the thorn,” and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him. Introduction: My actual thorn. We might say how does Paul’s experience of his “thorn in the flesh” have anything to do with us? Have any of us had a direct experience like the Apostle Paul. Probably not. We may have some medical conditions that won’t go way and some that have troubled us for years. So what can we learn from Paul and why is this story include in the Bible? “One of the greatest test of any Christian’s faith is the problem of sorrow and suffering ,tragedy and disaster.These things are real,,they hurt, and they cause doubts and questions.” Not only for us but for others. Have you ever had an actual thorn in the flesh? When I was a teenager(teenacher) I had a run in with a thorn bush. A thorn seriously lodged in my right forearm and it was initially very painful. It went in quite deep and I think the consensus by a dr was it eventually would find it’s way out. So I had this in my arm for a number of years. I learned to live with it and it was painful if I pressed the spot but it was bearable in daily living. I will come back to my thorn later. In Paul’s case it was not an actual thorn he had been given, but an ailment of which no clue has been given to what it was. Many people have conjectured what it was over the years. In any event it troubled him. And yet Paul was such a source of comfort and inspiration to many but his “thorn” did not hinder his work. No one likes to live in pain. Paul sought the Lord three times to remove this source of pain from him (2 Corinthians 12:8). He probably had many good reasons why he should be pain-free: he could have a more effective ministry; he could reach more people with the gospel; he could glorify God even more! But the Lord was more concerned with building Paul’s character and preventing pride. Instead of removing the problem, whatever it was, God gave Paul more overwhelming grace and more compensating strength. Paul learned that God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (verse 9). He says it made him stronger .In his weakness. 10 Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite happy about “the thorn,” and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him. Many explanations about the “thorn” have been put forward, but whether Paul is referring to a physical, spiritual, or emotional affliction—or something else entirely—has never been answered with satisfaction. Since he was not talking of a literal thorn, he must have been speaking about something esle. Some of the more popular theories of the thorn’s interpretation include temptation, a chronic eye problem, malaria, migraines, epilepsy, and a speech disability. No one likes to live in pain. Paul sought the Lord three times to remove this source of pain from him (2 Corinthians 12:8). He probably had many good reasons why he should be pain-free: he could have a more effective ministry; he could reach more people with the gospel; he could glorify God even more! But the Lord was more concerned with building Paul’s character and preventing pride. Instead of removing the problem, whatever it was, God gave Paul more overwhelming grace and more compensating strength. Paul learned that God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (verse 9). So let’s get back to us. Some of us might feel challenged by the fact we are no longer able to do the things we did in our youth. Most of us here, I think, have that problem. We also have trouble with our thinking , our ability to remember things, we have trouble also some of us relying on other people to care for us. To bring us to Church, to shower us, to feed us and all the normal things we once did. To take us on outings. So if we have all these problems how is it helping us in our weakness. Well for a start it helps us to let go of our pride and boastfulness that Paul was struggling with. We have heard that saying “Pride goes before a fall”. A similar proverb expands the message: “Haughtiness goes before destruction; humility precedes honor” (Proverbs 18:12 NLT). While pride sets us on an ill-fated course, the opposite of pride—humility—leads to honor. To choose pride is to set oneself up for a fall; the pedestal we make for ourselves proves a precarious foundation. So pride and being full of our own importance is never going to win us any friends or enable us to have a relationship with God that can sustain us. When we humbly accept the help being offered to us as we get older it has an impact on those who care for us. They are more likely to enjoy helping us if we are full of gratitude and not complaints. In turn we are helping them to learn from our graciousness as one day they will be old like us. When you care for, or mix with humble people, that Grace rubs off on you. We can if effect show or carers and friends by our behaviour that our God is worth knowing. Also we are providing a job for them that helps them to feed their families. By us showing grace and co operation it makes it a pleasure for them to come to work, especially when there are such challenging things happening in our world. So ,while we might feel weak because of some ailments we have, like Paul, we are also strong in our weakness. So what happened to the thorn in my arm. Well one day, years later, I felt some soreness and irritation where it had gone into my arm. Within a few hours it worked it’s way to the surface and we were able to remove it. I had been able to live quite ok for some years even though I had a thorn in the flesh. So let’s rethink what ever is troubling us and trust God to resolve our fears and worries. We will now sing our closing Hymn. Please note the photograph is my arm a few years ago when I had some internal bleeding after a medical prpcedure.