Thorn in the Flesh (2 Corinthians 12:2-10)
Sweets are my big weakness. However, my love of sweets caused me to weigh 300 pounds a few years ago. I knew I had to do something, and I chose a diet program that didn’t make me give up my sweets. In fact, I chose a program where I can eat anything I want in moderation.
Part of my diet regimen has been exercise, and I swim two to three miles every weekday morning. To swim that distance, I need carbs. So, when I get up in the morning, I make coffee and eat a couple Little Debbie snack cakes for breakfast. If I have enough points left after eating supper, I’ll have another Little Debbie cake.
Now, I’m positive you have a weakness, too. You might like honeybuns or doughnuts or cinnamon rolls for breakfast. You might be able to eat your weight in a certain meat or vegetable. You might not be able to pass up a sale at your favorite store. Or, you may have a weakness for pets—dogs or cats you treat better than your own children. You may have struggled with a sinful weakness before coming to Jesus—alcohol or gambling or the like.
What if you could turn your weakness into a strength? Imagine if sweets acted like Popeye’s spinach and gave me superhuman strength. What if you could turn a weakness for shopping into money in the bank? Imagine if your weakness for a certain food allowed you to live forever.
Paul said that Jesus’s power turns your weakness into strength. The apostle had a weakness he described as a thorn in the flesh. He prayed for Jesus to take the thorn away, but the Lord refused. Instead, Jesus strengthened Paul. This morning’s text teaches: “Weakness brings strength.”
Scripture (2 Corinthians 12:2-10)
verses 2-4:
A man was caught up into the “third heaven,” the place God dwells. From the context, it’s abundantly clear that Paul wrote about himself. While in paradise, Paul “heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.” Imagine that you were caught up into God’s presence and you saw heaven in full splendor and you heard things that you couldn’t repeat. And you are the only person in all the world who has seen heaven or who has heard those great utterances. Do you think that knowing something no one else on earth knows might cause some arrogance?
verse 7:
To keep Paul from conceit, “a thorn was given [him] in the flesh.” The Greek term for “thorn” really means a stake that was used for impaling or torturing someone—this is a huge stake being driven deep in the flesh.
God didn’t see fit for Paul to reveal what his thorn was; however, Paul did say that his thorn was “in the flesh.” I’m convinced, therefore, that the thorn was something physical—whether it was a physical ailment or persecution or beatings or something else.
Paul’s thorn was “a messenger of Satan.” The fact that God sent the thorn and the thorn was Satan’s messenger showcases God’s dominion over Satan.
God’s purpose in Paul’s thorn was to prevent the apostle from becoming conceited.
verse 8:
Paul pleaded with the Lord three times—just like Jesus prayed three times in the Garden—that the thorn be taken away.
verse 9:
Jesus told Paul that his grace—his unmerited favor toward Paul—was sufficient, because Jesus’s power was “made perfect in weakness.” In other words, Jesus’s power would strengthen and help Paul. Jesus would turn Paul’s weakness into a strength.
Paul wouldn’t boast about his revelations, but he would boast about his weaknesses, so that Christ’s power would rest upon him. Like God’s glory descended upon the temple, Jesus’s power descended and remained upon Paul.
verse 10:
Paul would be content with his struggles for Jesus’s sake, because in his weakness, he would be strong.
Application
“Weakness brings strength.” Paul’s thorn in the flesh brought him strength, for Jesus’s strength rested upon him. Every struggle—every thorn in the flesh—is an opportunity to grow in Jesus, to gain strength, and to put sin behind you. Jesus turns your weaknesses into strength, but how can you help the process?
One: Pinpoint
First Pinpoint—identify—your weakness. In Paul’s case, God was discipling him to prevent conceit. God continues to discipline his people: “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. . . . He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness” (Heb 12:6, 10).
God only disciplines the one he loves; since you know God loves you, he’s going to discipline you. Pinpoint what you’re experiencing which could be God’s discipline. What in your life is unpleasant? Where are you struggling?
After you Pinpoint what might be divine discipline, ask yourself what good God might seek to accomplish. In Paul’s case, God was discipling him to keep him from conceit. Are you struggling with a sin? Could, if handled appropriately, your discipline help you overcome that sin?
Two: Pray
Second Pray about your discipline. Paul pleaded with the Lord three times to remove his discipline. While Jesus refused, he did give Paul grace to endure. Perhaps when you Pray God will remove your discipline, but, if he doesn’t, he will give you the grace to endure.
When you Pray, know:
- God answers prayer: “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Lk 11:9).
- God cares about your worries: “He cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7).
- God wants you to bring every worry to him: Cast “all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7).
Regardless of how huge or insignificant your worries might seem to others, God wants you to bring every single one of them to him in prayer because he loves you so very much. Take every single worry to God in prayer.
Three: Promises
Third trust God’s Promises. The Lord Jesus promised to be with Paul in his suffering; therefore, Paul said, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.”
Paul’s discipline was to get him to rely on God instead of being conceited. Every struggle you face gives you an opportunity to grow closer to God. Paul wrote this about his time in Asia: “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Cor 1:8-9). When struggles come in life, rely on God’s Promises and grow closer to him.
Are you relying on God’s promises this morning?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.