Thorns

 Thorns

April 8, 2026

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 - A Thorn in the Flesh

7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan totorment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

When it comes to dedicating our whole lives to the Lord, we have to consider both our strengths and our weaknesses. When young people are starting out to become disciples, they need to discover their gifts and talents to discern the type of work they need to do for the Lord. When we get older that is less of a concern, but our weaknesses become more apparent.When  we are young, we can usually get by with youthful enthusiasm and bluster, but as we age we lose some of that energy and have to rely on the Lord more, just out of necessity. 

Some of our thorns may also be exposed as we lose our emotional filters that keep us from saying everything that is on our minds. When we get to be a crotchety old man, it takes too much energy to restrain ourselves and we just say whatever comes to mind! Everyone has ‘that uncle” that you resist inviting to Thanksgiving dinner because you are afraid of what he might say. It is the true saints of God that become sweeter and more compassionate when they age. I remember my mother-in-law who gradually lost her mind to dementia, but never failed to be polite and concerned about other people as long as she was still able to talk.

So the question is, can you say, like Paul, that the power of Christ dwells in you? Is His power perfected in your weakness? Can we agree with Paul that we are content with our weaknesses? That is the acid test of our faith, that we can rely on the Lord more and more our weaknesses and infirmities are exposed. Growing old and continuing to walk in the Holy Spirit is not for the faint of heart! Most of us will never encounter the type of insults, distresses and persecutions that Paul experienced, but nevertheless, we need to be able to say that we are content with our weakness for when we are weak we are strong in the Lord.