Is there a thorn in your side?

2 Corinthians 12: 7-9

 ⁷ even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. ⁸ Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. ⁹ Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

 I have come to the conclusion that there is no way I can do these words any justice. I believe that there is so much truth in these words that I am a long way from truly understanding them. There have been times in my life over the last few years where I can see where this may have been the case for me as well. I could tend to become proud very quickly. On the other hand these verses make me think about why bad things happen. When bad things happen it is usually one of four things.

The result of bad choices

The result of a fallen world

To bring glory to God

To keep us from becoming proud.

 When Jesus says my grace is all you need there is nothing truer than that, but when he says my power works best in weakness we all struggle with that. Paul got it and slowly over time I am starting to get it too. It is usually only in our weakness that we look to Him for help and when we do he will help and that is something to brag about.

But in the end if you have a thorn in your side, remember three times Jesus told Paul my grace is all you need. When you understand that, that is when things will start to make sense.