Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh

A short, but powerful passage of scripture.

You may want to be asking yourself how this lesson applies to you personally.

Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh
2 Corinthians 12:7b-10 NLT
⁷ …. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
⁸ Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. ⁹ Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. ¹⁰ That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Examine the scriptures:

Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh
2 Corinthians 12:7b-10 NLT
⁷ …. So to keep me from becoming proud,

• It’s not good to be proud. (This is not a given in today’s secular society.)

Pride: a preoccupation with self and one’s own importance, achievements, status, or possessions.

Note how many of today’s current commercials focus on one’s own importance, achievements, status, or possessions.

Proverbs 16:5 NLT
⁵ The Lord detests the proud;
they will surely be punished.

Proverbs 16:18 NLT
¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction,
and haughtiness before a fall.

Pride leads to one’s downfall.

1 Corinthians 13:4 NLT
⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud …

Romans 12:3 NLT
³ Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 

• The Lord detests the proud.

• God did what He had to do to keep pride from hindering Paul’s ministry. 

I was given a thorn in my flesh,

We do not know what the thorn was, but we do know that it was to keep Paul from becoming proud.

A thorn in the flesh suggests some sort of physical condition.

Some even think this thorn was a (demon-possessed) person.

A constant reminder. 

• Paul was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming proud.
  

a messenger from Satan

God permitted Satan to do this. (However, Satan’s plan backfired and Satan was defeated.)

Romans 8:28 NLT
²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 

 to torment me

Thorns are certainly a deterrent.

Numbers 33:55 NLT
⁵⁵ But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live.

Ezekiel 28:24 NLT
²⁴ No longer will Israel’s scornful neighbors
prick and tear at her like briers and thorns.
For then they will know
that I am the Sovereign Lord.

Hosea 2:6 NLT
⁶ “For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes.
I will block her path with a wall
to make her lose her way. 

• Thorns are certainly a deterrent. 

 and keep me from becoming proud. (repeated)

We do not know what the thorn was, we know it was to keep Paul from becoming proud. 

⁸ Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 

Paul prayed three times for its removal and each time He said “no”. 

⁹ Each time he said, “My grace is all you need.

James 4:6 NLT
⁶ And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.” 

Philippians 4:13 NLT
¹³ For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Colossians 1:29 NLT
²⁹ That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. 

• God’s grace is all we need.

• Grace rules out all human merit.

Ephesians 2:8 NLT
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

My power works best in weakness.” 

1 Corinthians 1:27 NLT
²⁷ Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.

Paul’s human weakness was an opportunity for the power of Christ to work through him.

John 3:30 NLT
³⁰ He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. 

Isaiah 55:8 NLT
⁸ “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

• God’s power works best in weakness.

• God’s ways are far beyond anything we can imagine.

So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 

• Paul’s affliction brought glory to God and allowed Paul to experience the mighty power of God in his life.

Christ’s strength showed itself through Paul’s weakness.

“It must be God at work in my life because I know it sure isn’t me.” (My quote)

¹⁰ That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. 

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

• When I am weak, the stage is set for God to display his power (through me). 

• A proud person is not a good ambassador for Christ.