Pounded and Pummeled By A Thorn!

Pounded and Pummeled By A Thorn!

Eagles soar to lofty heights but they don’t hold the record for flying the highest! On November 29, 1975, a plane flying 7 miles above the earth sucked into one of its jet engines a Rüppell's griffon vulture. Now that’s high! The Apostle Paul soared even higher than that one day. He was caught up to Heaven itself – the place where God dwells. He heard things up there he could not speak about on earth. (2 Corinthians 12:1-6)

The danger of making an icon out of a person who had such an extraordinary experience was very real. Paul could have been an instant global celebrity back then. He could have abandoned everything else and promoted himself as the only one to have flown so high. He could have stuck out his chest and allowed his cranial circumference to expand exponentially as the world record holder of such an honor. After all, his flesh and ours would love such attention! But something prevented the Apostle Paul from soaring high in his thoughts about himself and what he was doing for the Lord.

When we soar to new heights spiritually there is always a danger of falling into the snare of pride. “Wow! I’m making good spiritual progress. I’m doing much better than my friends. I know my Bible better than most of the young people. I’m even memorizing verses and journaling. They’re doing diddly-squat for the Lord. They’re going nowhere fast! I bet they never share Christ with a seeker at school. But me? Yeah, I’m doing good!”  For such a thought to flash into my mind is downright scary. It’s called pride and on the heels of pride is a fall. Proverbs 16:18.

Paul could have set up shop as the guru of extra-terrestrial experiences. People could have made pilgrimages to sit at the feet of someone who actually experienced heaven. His flesh would have loved that. But here’s what happened:

“…to keep me from being puffed up and too much elated by the exceeding greatness (preeminence) of these revelations,

there was given me a thorn (a splinter) in the flesh, a messenger of Satan,

to rack and buffet and harass me, to keep me from being excessively exalted.”

(2Corinthians 12:7 Amplified)

Your guess is as good as mine as to what that thorn really was. As I write this, I have 15 commentaries opened on my desk. The speculation ranges from migraines to seizures; eye problems to stuttering; earaches to malaria; personality traits to inner secret conflicts and hounding temptations or even persistent flashbacks of his brutal treatment of Christians in his unsaved days and crippling guilt.

Historically, Catholics have looked at the thorn as being some inner emotional or spiritual struggle. Protestants have thought the thorn was a physical problem and persistent pain. The reality is – we’re left in the dark as to ‘what’ the thorn was.

We know that Paul initially viewed the ‘thorn’ as a hindrance and a pain. We know he cried to the Lord three specific times to remove the ‘thorn’ but it wasn’t something God intended to remove from him. It was something that constantly kept Paul aware of his own weakness and limitations. How could he ever harbor exalted thoughts of himself with this thorn constantly piercing him?

Paul didn’t reluctantly decide to live with it – to grin and bear it. No, when he understood that God had a purpose for it and that God would supply the grace and strength to meet every need, he was able to thank God for the ‘thorn.’ Better than having the ‘thorn’ removed, the Lord assured him of His presence, strength and enabling grace.

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

(2Corinthians 12:8-9 ESV)

Dear child of God, perhaps you can relate to the ‘thorn’ issue. Let the Word of God assure you again today: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Warmly in Christ,

Peter Ramsay

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