in weakness made strong

Paul’s Thorn in the flesh — 2  Corinthians 12:7-10

The Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9a

Other than Paul’s radical conversion from his zeal for Judaism and for the Law of God  to embracing Jesus as the Christ, Paul’s experience with the “thorn in the flesh” is a defining moment in his life. 

The Apostle Paul could have very easily exalted himself with the vision of Christ at his conversion (Acts 9:3-9); the vision that he had of Paradise (the third heaven, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4) and the direct call as an Apostle by Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:1).  If he had boasted in these “credentials”,he would have been just like the false brethren and his accusers that were undermining Paul’s apostleship to the Corinthian believers.

So, God, in His mysterious mercy gave Paul a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble and dependent upon Him.  The word thorn is the Greek word skolops which means anything pointed or specifically a stake.  This stake in Paul’s body was painful.  At first, Paul pleads with the Lord with great urgency and petition to remove this painful infirmity.  He does so three times and would have continued but the Lord spoke to Him about the necessity of the “stake” in order to keep him humble and trusting.  

Paul learned a very important lesson from God about how to live the Christian life and how to be an effective leader building up the church of God and advancing the Kingdom of God to all nations.  The lesson is this: God made us as dependent people and it is our weaknesses that help us daily rely on God with favor and empowerment.  The calamities and the trials that Paul went through, (see 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, 4:7-12, 6:3-10, 11:18-12-10), did not suggest that his apostleship was faulty or that he was disqualified from ministry but they were actually credentials for his apostleship!  

It was through this thorn along with all of the other weaknesses that God made the man — Paul into the greatest missionary to the Gentile the world has seen!  

Paul embraced his “stake” and his weakness, (2 Corinthians 12:9-10), when he heard God’s words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness instead of despising them.  He understood that these weaknesses were not enemies but friends in helping him to depend upon God moment by moment in order to experience God’s empowerment for his life and his ministry.  

In life and in ministry we have been “handicapped”.  We all have weaknesses.  God orchestrates these weaknesses in such a way to teach us that we are not adequate in ourselves but that He is our adequacy, (2 Corinthians 2:16, 3:5-6).   He is our sufficiency! He is the One who comes to our aid and our help to enable us to live out our conversion, to declare the good news and to build up the Church of Jesus Christ.