Why Do I Have This Thorn?

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Has God revealed himself to you in profound ways that have caused you to boast to others?

Maybe you didn’t mean to, but you were excited about how God used you. Little by little, your language slipped, and you started giving yourself more credit than you deserved. You shifted the focus from God and onto you. Spiritual one-upmanship is one of the greatest traps for those who have dramatic encounters with God.

As Paul shares in 2 Corinthians 12:1-6, he had great reason to boast. He had a series of divine encounters with God in addition to his Damascus Road conversion. But to keep him in check and to remind him of his need for dependence, Paul writes in Verse 7, “So that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself.” 

Colin Kruse writes, “There has been much speculation about the nature of Paul’s thorn in the flesh, but there is simply insufficient data to decide what affliction he suffered.”^[1] One of the more common theories is that he had problems with his eyesight. Nevertheless, the type of thorn was not as important as the purpose of the thorn. Whatever it was, it was something Paul didn’t want. He writes,

⁸ Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. ¹⁰ So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.