Recognize that thorns come to ultimately frustrate you; to make life difficult for you; to make it seem like you’re not making progress. So first, carefully tackle any form of frustration attempting to creep into mind by removing the focus from yourself and unto a bigger goal. Second shut down the proponents of your thorns.
God wanted Paul to use the grace available to him to tackle the irritating spirit- cast it away, resist it, shut it down, etc, it was totally within Paul’s ability to handle this irritating spirit. Little wonder he received a ‘no’ response 3 times from the Lord. What God was really saying was….you handle it.
Or could it be that Paul didn’t quite understand what The Lord said to him….o make something perfect, in my understanding, is to make it function at an optimum, …at it’s best possible form or state. Well, just to be sure, I checked Vocabulary.com Dictionary and it says ‘perfect’ means to make something complete and without defect or blemish. And some synonyms for perfect include; unmarred, unmutilated, error-less, ideal, flawless, faultless, immaculate.
Or could it be that Paul didn’t quite understand what The Lord said to him….o make something perfect, in my understanding, is to make it function at an optimum, …at it’s best possible form or state. Well, just to be sure, I checked Vocabulary.com Dictionary and it says ‘perfect’ means to make something complete and without defect or blemish. And some synonyms for perfect include; unmarred, unmutilated, error-less, ideal, flawless, faultless, immaculate.
It was a gloomy day in my walk with God. I had questions, many questions, specifically about my health. Why won’t these symptoms clear completely? Why do I still experience them every now and then? Yes The Lord in His faithfulness and sovereignty lifted the weight of them off me few years ago, but why do I still feel them sometimes? Why do they still resurface attempting to limit and depress me?
No doubt, The Lord Jesus Christ paid the full and eternal price for sin, sickness and disease, I believe and confess same regularly. And many times, Like Apostle Paul, I’d asked The Lord to completely remove the symptoms from my body. But strangely, they persist. This is unusual. Jehovah never fails me, that’s why I call Him; ‘Faithful Father’. In the darkest of nights, He’d show up, but why not now?
He did show up!
It wasn’t a coincidence that my friend and colleague Dr. Solomon Bibama sent me his latest telegram; “Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh”. Immediately, I grabbed my Bible and opened to 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh’ stared at me for hours, days and maybe a week. My mood lightened, but what I read didn’t make sense. I had more questions….
Yes Paul had abundance of visions and revelations of The Lord Jesus Christ, but if you ask me, maybe Paul needed to, considering who Saul was. And I believe that if The Lord wanted to keep Paul humble, He needn’t give him a thorn in the flesh, there are many other ways to keep someone debased than inflicting them with disease, and really, not after you’ve paid a huge price to buy the person’s healing! (Selah). The Lord could have limited Paul’s exposure to the revelations if He considered them a threat to his humility and health.
Just to set the records straight, Jesus Christ, did not inflict Paul with a thorn in the flesh. Neither did He send a messenger from Satan to do it so as to keep Paul humble.
Pause,……
The Bible gives us Jesus’ mission statement in Acts 10:38;
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about DOING GOOD and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him”.
Interestingly, the book of Acts of the Apostles is believed to have been written by Apostle Paul. How did he then arrive at the conclusion that this same Jesus would send him a messenger from Satan to keep him humble? Hmm… brother Paul and I will hold an interesting discussion on this when we meet at home! 🙂 There’s probably something that’s not clear to me….
Setting out to study this scripture, my intention was to refute (in love) Dr. Bibama’s assertion that Paul’s thorn in the flesh wasn’t an ailment. But depending on which Bible version or translation you read from; different phrases are used to describe Paul’s experience as told in 2 Corinthians 12:7
“Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a HANDICAP to keep me in constant touch with my limitations.” The Message Translation
“But to keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw, I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan’s messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud.” Good News Bible
“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.” The Living Bible
“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 from Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.” NKJV
The dictionary defines ‘thorn’ as; “a woody plant bearing sharp impeding processes (such as prickles and spines. A small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf.”
You see, we can read these scriptures till The Lord returns and muse over what Paul actually meant; whether he had a physical ailment or not, etc….., but it won’t do us any good!
Call it a physical ailment/condition, a handicap, a thorn in the flesh or whatever, the irrefutable fact remains that these experiences attempted to limit Paul. To keep him low and debased. He didn’t like the feel of it and he’d rather have it totally gone.
In all of this, and considering my personal experiences too, I was curious to know The Lord’s response to Paul? Paul tells us he asked the Lord, 1, 2, 3 times to take away the thorns. But the symptoms persisted!!!!
This same Jesus that came to heal and liberate all that were bound and oppressed by Satan. Could He not take away Paul’s pains and discomfort?
The Lord’s response to Paul, may also be The Lord’s response to you today, especially if you are going through a similar experience as Paul in any area of your life;
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
Notice: There is no documentation of The Lord holding any discussion with Paul about the thorns (SELAH). Do you know why? Because it’s inconsequential.
What can be more significant or important than God Himself dying for sin, sickness and disease?
For years priest after priest attempted to purge man’s sins through innumerable sacrifices without success (Hebrews 10). Jesus Christ perfected forever all those who are sanctified by ONE single sacrifice and bought an eternal redemption! It is rather rude to discuss sin, sickness and disease after paying such a huge price.
The Lord’s response was to appropriately direct Paul’s focus. It’s not about the sickness, it’s not about the physical limitations, it’s not about you and I. It’s ALL about what God can do and has done in us through Christ Jesus.
For where The Lord’s strength is, sickness is powerless. You will not be limited by sickness and disease where My strength is. Yes, the thief came to steal, kill and destroy. But I say to you, for as long as you draw from My strength, my life in you will continue to strengthen you and there is nothing you cannot do. The eternal price for sickness, sin and disease was paid in FULL at Calvary. Any symptom in your body is therefore a wandering stranger. Resist it, lay your hands on your body (as a HEALED Spirit that you are), say your healing confessions and do not fail to put on the whole armor of God always. But whatever you do, DO NOT LIMIT the potency of My strength and My life in You. My life in you is the rejuvenating grace you need and it is ALL you need. Focus on My grace, focus on My strength.
Thank You Father.
Thank You Faithful Father.
