Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 Reading for the Day: Luke 6 and 2 Cor. 12-13 Focus on 2 Cor. 12
In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul completes his “rant” about the difference between him and the “super apostles” who entered Corinth after him and sought to undermine his influence and ministry there. As Paul continues to boast about what God has done in his life, he tells of a vision in which he was either physically taken to heaven or taken there in the spirit. Either way, he had the opportunity to see a glimpse of heaven. In order to keep Paul from becoming arrogant or conceited over having such an amazing opportunity, Paul tells us he was given a “thorn in the flesh.” We don’t know the exact nature of this infirmity, whether it was a physical ailment or something else. What we do know is that Paul prayed three times for it to be taken from him by God. Throughout the Gospels and much of the rest of the New Testament, when someone was sick and Jesus, or an apostle prayed for the sick person, the person got better. In fact, Paul is the only one who didn’t get better. After three attempts to get God to deliver him from the thorn in the flesh, Paul tells us that God told him that His grace was sufficient for Paul’s situation, and that God’s strength was perfected in Paul’s weakness. What a vital principle for all of us: God’s strength is perfected in our weakness! So often we want God to take away our pain, struggles and problems. We pray for God to give us peace and joy and never to be in a state of suffering. But sometimes God uses pain and suffering in our lives as a way to draw us to Him, as a way of keeping us so focused on Him, that we gain the victory over our pain—even if it doesn’t go away. If you’ve ever been afflicted with chronic pain and asked God to take it away, maybe you’ve assumed that it was your fault, your lack of faith or something problematic about you. The reality is God may be giving us an opportunity to have God’s strength perfect us in our weakness! The next time you find yourself with a “thorn in the flesh,” pray for God to remove it—pray again and again, but also be prepared for God to empower you in your weakness to testify to His amazing grace, presence and power!
Heavenly Father, thank You for always hearing our prayers! Thank You for not always answering them the way we ask you to answer, because sometimes what we want or think we need is far from your will for our lives. Fill us with the Holy Spirit that we may always pray for you to deliver us from suffering, and that we may live through the suffering by Your strength if that is Your preferred will in our lives. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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