Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 CORINTHIANS 12:8–9 NIV
I can’t sing. That doesn’t mean that I don’t sing. I do. I sing in the car, in the shower, when I’m alone, and when I’m with other people (and apologies to all you victims out there whom I have put through that experience). In fact, on some level, my inability to sing well enough to please the ears of those who might hear me has probably been my own little version of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” I have other, more significant, thorns, as well, of course, but not being able to sing has always been a consistently felt need (and, honestly, a relatively safe example to use in this column).
No one knows what specific issue Paul was referring to, but we do know his prayer to have it removed wasn’t answered in the affirmative. We also know that it was something significant enough that Paul brought it to God three times, pleading for relief. It was a big deal, and it caused this spiritual giant much emotional pain. And yet God left the thorn embedded in his body or spirit—or perhaps both. Why?
The good news is we don’t have to guess, because Paul himself provides the answer. He tells us that God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” That’s a verse most of us are familiar with, but have we ever taken a moment to contemplate the powerfully deep implications? The idea that God’s power is somehow incomplete without our weakness to act upon is, at the very least, mind-boggling. But that is the undeniable implication of Paul’s statement.
Upon closer examination, though, it makes a perfectly beautiful and encouraging kind of sense. The word perfect here should actually be understand as complete, or whole. It implies the closing of a circle. Of what use is power if it has nothing upon which to operate. For that matter, what good is love with no one to experience it? God chose to leave Paul’s thorn in place because it provided an opportunity for God to demonstrate his power by developing and sustaining Paul through, and in spite of, his weakness. And while we might wonder why that matters so much to God, clearly Paul had come to terms with it; his weakness is what connected him to Christ so fully and so completely. As he reminded the church in Philippi (and reminds the church today), everything he accomplished, he did, “through Christ who [gave him] strength” (Philippians 4:13).
Paul is essentially saying he would rather have his thorn, his weakness, if because of its presence in his life he had more of Christ. As I grow older and grow deeper into my faith, I begin to understand and appreciate more and more this sentiment. It’s not that I won’t continue to try to remove the thorn, especially if it represents a moral or spiritual weakness. It’s also doesn’t mean I won’t despair over the presence of the thorn because it is one of the ways my eyes are turned to Jesus. Whatever success I have in removing my thorns, or overcoming their influence in my life, will forever be due to the strength I find in Christ who gives me strength.
As you look at your own life, how have you experienced God using your own thorns to demonstrate His power and love in you? Drop a comment below and let us know how God has worked through your weaknesses rather than simply removing them.
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