Key scripture – “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 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. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

Do you have a thorn in your life? We all get our own set of thorns and God gives us the thorns in our life for a reason.

The Greek word for thorn refers to a splinter or needle of some kind that pricks you. We have all gotten a splinter in our finger or in our foot and if you don’t get it out you know how it hurts. A thorn is similar to when a fish gets hooked and if the hook is not removed properly it will tear everything up. In the scriptures, a thorn is anything that nags or irritates or frustrates your life on a continuous basis. It hangs around and you can’t shake it.

In today’s key scripture, Paul discusses the thorn that was given to him by God. In verse 7, Paul introduces us to the thorn. “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” This thorn was given to Paul to harass him, which means to torment him. To get on his last nerve.

No one knows for sure what Paul’s thorn was. It is actually good we don’t know, because his thorn could be your thorn. So when Paul talks about his thorn in this verse you can put your thorn there.

Paul talks about the different types of things that can be thorns. …”I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.” (v.10). It can be an emotional thorn like; depression, bad memories, or regrets. Some people have relational thorns, which are, people who upset them or get on their nerves. Others have financial thorns, they have been trying to get a job, or they’re having a hard time finding the right job, or money is just tight and they can’t seem to get ahead and get out of debt. Others have physical thorns, including but not limited to; disabilities, chronic illnesses, migraines, stomach problems, a bad back, or chronic pain, etc.

Our thorns, just like Paul’s thorn, are given to us as a gift from God. “a thorn was given me in the flesh.” (v.7). So the question is, why would God give any of us a gift like that? Something that bothers you all the time and won’t go away.

There are two reasons God gives you a thorn.

1. Verse 7 says “because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation.” The first reason why God gives you a thorn is He wants to show you some new things. The thorn is a necessary part of the revelation. When God gives you a thorn, He has something new, something unique for you. God is going to expand your anointing and bless you when He gives you a thorn.

2. The second reason why God gives you a thorn is to keep you from exalting yourself. “to keep me from becoming conceited.” (v.7). A thorn is to keep you dependent on Him.

The first purpose of a thorn is to show you something new, however, it is also there to keep you dependent so you don’t get self-sufficient and prideful. Without the thorn, when God anoints us with a new anointing our tendency is to forget who gave us the new anointing in our life and forget how much we need God.

So if you have a thorn in your life right now, God is going to show you something new and give you a new anointing, however, He is also using that thorn to show you a sin or sins in your life that will keep Him from being glorified when He gives you this new anointing in your life.

You are probably thinking, well I have a thorn that hurts, that won’t go away, it seems like I have had it forever and I don’t see any new revelation from God. So how do I work with this thorn? What do I need to do to get the thorn to do what it is supposed to do in my life? Paul tells us, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.” (v. 8). The first thing Paul did is he prayed about the thorn. If you have a thorn that is irritating you and getting on your nerves, pray about it.

So while you are waiting on God to answer your prayers how do you make it in the meantime. Look at what Paul told us, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (v.9).

God did not grant Paul’s request but He met Paul’s need. Paul prayed about his thorn and God answered him and said “No”. God answers our prayers with, “Yes, No, or Not Yet.” Even though Paul was told “No” he learned a lesson about the greatest word in the Christian vocabulary, “Grace”. While you wait for God to answer your prayer you will learn that lesson about Grace too.

Grace is God giving you what you cannot give yourself. It is God’s goodness and favor over flowing on you. When God says “I’m not going to answer your request right now about the thorn,” He gives you the Sufficient Grace that you need to get through it. When He says, “I’m not going to get you out of debt right now, I’m not going to give you that new mate right now, I’m not going to give you that new job right now, I am not going to heal you right now” You respond by saying, “Lord it hurts, it’s irritating me, it’s frustrating me.” God says, “That’s ok, because even though I’m not going to give you what you want, I am going to give you what you need. You need Grace, You need me to come alongside you and hold you up and give you a second wind.”

A second wind is like when you are running and you feel like you can’t go any further and then all of a sudden you kick into another gear and you have strength and energy that you didn’t have. This is what God’s Grace is like. But God doesn’t just give Grace, He gives “Sufficient” Grace. But when does He give that Sufficient Grace? When you pray. The answer you get from God may not be what you want to hear but it is sufficient for what you are going through.

You can rest assured that if you are experiencing a thorn and God has said, “No, I’m not going to change that right now”, He has given you Sufficient Grace and He is giving you what you need until your change comes.

When we experience a thorn, we all want God to say “Yes” and take care of it immediately. However, if He does not respond like we want Him to we start complaining and say things like, “Why is this happening to me? This is not fair.” Our complaining causes us to miss His Grace. Instead of complaining we need to read 2 Corinthians 9:8. This is one of the greatest verses regarding Grace. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (ESV),

In 2 Corinthians 9:8, God left no stone uncovered. Paul says God’s got so much Grace that it abounds, it is heaped up, and it happens in ALL ways and it is ALL sufficient so it doesn’t matter what your situation is, you get bonus Grace from God, to handle it, and not just a little, but in abundance.

Do not get impatient and try to remove your thorn before God is ready. Instead, go searching for Grace by praying to God. That is what makes the difference between a defeated Christian and a victorious Christian when they both have the same type of thorn. The victorious Christian has God’s Grace and the other does not. One is being showered with Grace and the other is not. The defeated Christian is so irritated with the thorn they spend all their time focusing on the thorn and complaining and griping, and they never get around to praying. Instead of praying all they do is say, “I don’t deserve this, I deserve better, I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

You need to remember, God loves you and there are times He allows thorns in your life but it’s only because He wants to show you His Grace. He wants to show you what He can do in spite of the circumstances. When God lets you see His Grace, the thorns that hurt you, begin to work for you. The thorns that you have a bad attitude about, begin to work for you.

If you spend your life running from your thorn and complaining about it you are missing the new anointing that God wants to show you. You are missing the new revelation from God and the humbling that He wants to give you by making you dependent on Him.

Look at it like this, we have all been to the doctor and been given shots. When they stick you with a needle it hurts, however, if they don’t stick you they cannot put the medicine in you to make you well. The same thing that hurts you is also helping you. If you say to the nurse, “don’t stick me because the needle hurts” you may avoid the pain, however, you’ve also forfeited getting the medicine which would heal you.

If God is sticking you and you have prayed about it, but God has done nothing in response to your prayers, you need to know that God’s “nothing” has medicine in it. When God leaves the thorn in your life it is like when you have an IV slowly dripping medicine in your arm. But if you keep pulling the IV out because you don’t like the thorn, you will never see God’s medicine at work. God is doing something, but you must wait patiently on Him. “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).

God also says His power is perfected in weakness. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (v.9). Thorns make us weak. Our weaknesses show up when we respond by saying things that we shouldn’t be saying, doing things that we shouldn’t be doing, looking at things with an attitude that we should not have. God says, “I’m going to give you My Grace in your weakness, which you have because of the thorn, and I am going to show you my power.”

Why does God do it like that? Because when we are weak and God’s Grace strengthens us there is no question in anybody’s mind where the strength came from. There is no question who the glory goes to or who gets the credit. That is why a teenager like David was able to kill Goliath and why God told Gideon to reduce his army down to 300 to beat the Midianites, which was originally an army of thousands. God loves to use the broken down weak stripped things to prove and show His strength and His power.

Paul then says “I will boast about my weaknesses… For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (vv. 9,10). Paul is telling us, I’m going to boast about my weaknesses and brag about my thorn. We need to do the same when we think about or talk about our thorn, we need to boast and praise God for the thorn and stop complaining about it. So thank God that He hasn’t changed your insensitive spouse or boss, or found you a new job yet, or turned your finances around, or healed you. Brag about the fact that even though your circumstances are frustrating you are praying and praising God for it.

I know this approach is so different compared to what the world says to do when we have a problem, but the reason why you need to pray and praise God is because when you are weak, when you can’t see a way out, when you can’t find your way out of a paper bag, when you don’t know which way to go, God is going to show up and show out. He is going to show you His Grace and you will see His strength.

You may be asking, “Why haven’t I seen it yet?” It’s because you haven’t been praying and boasting about your thorn. You have been complaining, grumbling, fussing, and cussing. You have not approached the thorn right, instead all you keep doing is complaining and saying, “It’s not fair. This shouldn’t happen to me. I am tired. I do not believe God answers prayer.” That is not how you handle a thorn. Stop all that and start praying, boasting, bragging, and praising God about it. You need to pray about it, boast about it, and chill with it. Be content during that time and God will give you His Grace. You need to stay right where you are and chill out. So boast about your weakness and focus on God while you wait for Him to answer your prayer, give you a new anointing, and deliver you from your thorn.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I confess and I apologize for all the times I have complained about the thorn in my life. Forgive me for being so shortsighted and not turning to You in prayer and receiving Your Sufficient Grace. I have tried in the past to pull the thorn out and by doing that I miss seeing your Grace at work in my life. Starting today, I will stop complaining, griping and fussing and instead I will brag, boast, and praise You for my thorns. I know that the new anointing that You have for me will be so awesome and glorious that the thorns will seem insignificant compared to it. Thank You Father for being right here with me while I go through this thorn. I know that I will see the goodness of the Lord. I will wait patiently on You. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

 Laura Ingle