Thorn in our flesh

In the Bible we find the old familiar story of Paul and how he was given a "thorn in flesh as a messenger of Satan to buffet him lest he be exalted above measure." Several times he pleaded with God to remove this so called thorn. I don't know if God answered Him each of the three times he pleaded with Him but what He did finally answer put an end to the pleading.

 

God told him in 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficent for you. For My strength is made perfect in weakness." It was an answer that was good enough for Paul and it needs to be good enough for us. It doesn't matter what Paul's thorn was nor does it matter what we would consider our thorn in flesh. Big or small, been there the longest or the shortest amount of time doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that God's grace is sufficent for us.

 

In preparing for rain (an answer to my prayer) as I've been talking about one of the best way I can do that is to work on my relationship with God. To live my faith and act it out in my attitude. I need to stay strong in the Lord, not in myself. Believe it or not the thorn in our flesh is there for God's use and our benefit. It's used to get our attention, to humble us, to teach us how to trust, follow, and have faith in God.  Too often we thank God for the roses (good things, blessings, etc) but we don't thank Him for the thorns when we really should. It's the thorns not the roses that do so much for us in spite of the pain they can cause and the struggles they create.

The thorns create storms in our lives and we need to use these moments for the betterment of our person instead of for an opportunity to grumble. Storms show us where the lose shutters are, the missing shingles, and the other things needed to be corrected before the next big storm hits.

We need to make God enough in our lives. We need to know and accept the fact that He is sufficent. In order to do so we need to come to the end of ourselves and surrender all we have to Him. Surrender our pain, our loneliness, our attitude, our time, efforts, and whatever else that has our fingerprints all over it.

God is sufficent. We need to believe that and live it out daily. In preparation for my rain (answer to my prayer) I need to keep my focus on God and know that He will come through for me. It may not be the answer I'm seeking but it will be sufficent to what God wants in my life and in the life of the individuals around me.

 Praise the Lord the thorn God has inflicted in our flesh is not there for our torture but for our teaching. Self-inflicted thorns are a totally different story, a totally different outcome.

Journal Note #3

I’ve once again come up against where I am the weakest. I have a hard time blooming where I’m planted because life gets a little difficult. The atmosphere in the house changes and I go with it, this needs to stop. I’m a true Paulette all the way but even Paul was able to hold his own and be the person Christ had called him to be.

Even in the most perfect of conditions if we don’t deal with our weak areas they will remain weak. The purpose of my journey is to not get out but to get through by the grace of God. A journey that brings glory to God in all I say and do.

I want my struggles to be other people’s planks that get them through their own difficult moments in life. One thing I have learned over the years is the fact that “every moment eventually passes.” They may take their time sometimes but they do pass. What we do in those moments, how we react, what we say goes with us so we need to do what is right and beneficial not revenge and self-seeking.

I can both stop in my weaknesses and wallow around in them like a pig does the mud or I can choose to keep moving forward. I choose to keep moving forward. I am going to conqueror who I often am and turn it into something I want to be for Christ and Christ alone.

First order of business to tackle is the getting down on myself when issues in life come up and I take it out on myself. For some reason the first person I like to come down on is myself as I hammer myself into the ground. I know this is wrong but it’s what I do and I need to overcome this worldly trait and replace it with something God would want me to have.

A good place to start is to turn to our sword collection from the Bible. They are promises God makes in His word for us to hang on to and use to fight our battles not against flesh and blood but against the principalities of the dark world Satan creates around us.

For example:

With fiery darts in flight everywhere from Satan I run to my Bible for my defense. Quickly reaching in I draw out the sword to use against my enemy that says, “Though a good man falls he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him with His hand,” Psalm 37:24. Waving that in Satan’s face I stand by God’s promise that though I may fall I will not be utterly cast down for God is holding me with His hand. The knowledge of this gives me strength and stability knowing I have God on my side. I may stub my toe, or run into a brick wall once in awhile but I will NOT be utterly cast down. I have the God factor on my side and that is something I will be more than happy to stand by. It’s not for me to hammer myself down but to pick myself up using the strength of God to carry me through even the darkest times. As He holds my hand, I need to be holding His.                                          

Each of us needs to look for promise swords and use them to fight our battles. Too often we pull out scripture and try to use it against our spouses, children, or others and it backfires in our faces. It does that because we are miss-using the scripture for what it’s supposed to be. God’s words are there for our benefit, our defense, our guidance and to get to know Jesus as well as ourselves.

As wonderful as it would be to get our spouse to read and learn from them it doesn’t work that way. We can only work on ourselves, wow did I say that? My marriage counselor would be proud! No, all we can do is our part and hope the influence from that will make a difference.