When Difficult Times Come

When Difficult Times Come

The Apostle Paul tells us of his “thorn in the flesh” and how he pleaded with the Lord three times for removal, but God would not remove it. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9: “Because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” You see, Paul was given a profound Spiritual gift, and while he didn’t identify the “thorn”, we can surmise that it caused struggle or suffering. God, in His wisdom, allowed it to continue, using it to produce a humility to focus dependence on His all-sufficient grace. Currently, we all have received Spiritual gifts from God. And like Paul, we need to be careful to not allow pride or arrogance to become attached to those gifts. Yet we are tempted to take God- given gifts and attribute them to ourselves, as if we developed something or merit them, as if they were ours. This places us in extreme danger of valuing exaggerated ideas about our own importance. Remember what Paul said, he was given a thorn to keep him from becoming proud and glorifying himself. Have you experienced a thorn yet? We all will at some time: some burden we can’t get rid of it no matter how hard we try. And while we may not want to hear this, this may be a message of hope from God. There is nothing that can get at us, even if it comes from the devil himself, which doesn’t first have to pass through God’s wisdom. The devil isn’t sovereign. Only God is sovereign. Like Job, the devil can’t reach us without permission from God. Read the verses Job 1:6-12 to receive a better picture of God’s conversation with Satan. I have only included verse 12, "All right, you may test him," the LORD said to Satan. "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." So Satan left the LORD's presence. The fact that Satan had to ask permission to test Job indicates that the extent of his authority falls ultimately under the sovereign governance of God. At times, God allows what the devil does to work for His purposes; He uses the devil’s efforts to bring about His plan for us. Usually He blocks the devil’s efforts, but occasionally He allows those efforts to get through to us. When that happens, it is by God’s design. For the sovereign God can take the evil and use it for our good. The question is not whether the thorns will come to us, but will we allow God to use our “thorns” to remind us that He alone is the source of our gifts and the one who makes us spiritually useful.