Friday 16th June
2 Corinthians 12:8-10
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.” 9 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. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (NIVUK)
Paul was not happy about the ‘thorn’. It was clearly debilitating. There are a number of things to reflect on when reading these painful words. First, in contrast to the very roundabout way Paul speaks of his spectacular vision, when discussing this ‘thorn’ he is blunt and direct. He openly reports that he begged for it to be removed. He is comfortable with this vulnerability and confession; the boasting much less so! One suspects we speak differently, more comfortable with the boasting and less direct about our weaknesses.
Second, there is nothing wrong with bringing one’s complaints to Jesus. Even repeatedly. We may think the answer to Paul’s prayer was ‘No’. Calvin makes an important observation here. He distinguishes between the means and ends of prayer. For Paul, the end he begged for was the removal of the ‘thorn’ and the obvious and straightforward means to that end would be for God to remove it. However, in response to this prayer God offered grace, more grace, sufficient grace to be allowed to bear up under the trial and suffering. The means God used to answer Paul’s prayer was more grace.
Finally, the contrast implied in these verses may not be the one we think. Sometimes we may think that prayer is about request and answer with an assumption that humility should be rewarded. Periods of weakness should be compensated with periods of strength. That is only just and fair. The flaw in that thinking becomes obvious when we consider God’s answer to Paul’s prayer. Paul was not owed ‘times of strength’ (just as he was not ‘owed’ weakness because of his surpassingly great vision). Grace is unmerited. The purpose of the ‘thorn’ was twofold. First, it was to prevent Paul becoming conceited with the privilege he enjoyed. Second it was to display God’s power more fully and reveal Christ’s strength to sustain and hold people up even amidst the worst life can throw at them. The ‘thorn’ revealed God’s glory – and because of that Paul stopped asking for it to be removed.
