Have you ever heard this sermon: “If you are doing what God wants you to do, you will not have a problem in this world.” But I say to you, “If you ever decide to do what God wants you to do, you will have many problems, but God will be with you.” Or maybe we have heard, “God will never give you more than you can bear.” But I say to you, “God will always give you more than you can bear, but never more than He and you can bear together.”
Consider the Apostle Paul’s dilemma. He had an unidentified thorn in his flesh. Whatever it was, it was painful and even humiliating. He did what we do. Paul prayed three times for God to take the thorn away. And God did and he lived happily ever after. No. That is not the way the story goes. Instead, God left the thorn and said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.” When God refused to take away the thorn, Paul embraced the sufficiency of God’s grace and he delighted in his weaknesses, because when he was weak, God’s strength rested powerfully on him.
I used to wish we had more clarity about the nature of Paul’s thorn. Was it his eyesight, or perhaps malaria, or some tragic family situation? The text doesn’t tell us. In a way I am glad it doesn’t. If Paul had malaria we might be tempted to say, “God’s grace is sufficient for people with malaria.” Instead, God left it unexplained, so that we might know whatever our thorn is, God is on his throne, and his grace is enough for us.
