2 Corinthians 10-13
December 14, 2014


Paul speaks of the many difficulties that he has encountered, and I suspect that he didn't mention them all, only the most compelling ones.   I marvel at the ability God gives to withstand difficulties and trials.   Are you undergoing a difficult trial?  Remember that God gives strength.   Are you being persecuted because of your love for Jesus?  None of your efforts go unnoticed by the Lord.  He will strengthen and keep you in His hand.   We often look at the many trials Paul went through and wonder how he could remain faithful and obedient through them all.   Maybe what we should be doing is marveling at how much strength God gave him.   Were it not for God's strength, Paul would likely have collapsed during his first beating.

This brings me to my thought for today.  It concerns Paul's thorn.   Even with all this powerful working of God in his life, Paul still had a problem that Jesus chose to leave there.   I wonder why?   Certainly there was no question as to Paul's dedication or commitment to the Gospel.   I have heard people speculate that God left it so that Paul would learn more about God's ability to work through our weaknesses.   That is to say, if God had healed Paul, he might not have been able to say "when I am weak, I am strong"  or  "God chose the weak things to shame the strong".  

It is possible that when we pray and ask God to deliver us from our problems we are actually praying to limit our potential!   It could be that our response to the problem, or the way we choose to deal with the problem spiritually is the pathway to our real ministry.   The problem that we wish would go away could actually be the very thing that God wants us to struggle with, so that we (and others) can learn something more about Him in the process.

The next time God doesn't quickly remove a problem from your life that you asked Him to,  consider the possibility that He has that problem in your life for a reason.

PR