2 Corinthians 12 - What is a Thorn in the Flesh?

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Paul’s Vision and His Thorn

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

This is Paul's famous "thorn in the flesh" passage. First of all we must understand what he means by the term "flesh", because it is not a term we use very often. The word "flesh" in the Greek is the word "sarx". It is also translated "sinful nature". Paul talked quite a bit about his struggle with his sinful nature most notably in Romans 7 when he says, "Though I know the good I should do, I do the very opposite. What a wretched man I am?" 

At the heart of Paul's theology and writing is that we can't overcome our sinful nature by our own effort. The only power we have to overcome our fleshly nature is through what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus death cancelled the debt we owed by his once and for all sacrifice. By the cross we are freed from the guilt and shame of our sin, and by God's grace we can start to live a life not in bondage to our sinful nature. This of course is only possible through the Holy Spirit, who lives in side of us. 

Paul says in Galatians 6, "Unless we are led by the Spirit we cannot overcome our sinful nature." So how does all that relate what Paul is saying here?

Paul calls it a "thorn in the flesh". What does he mean? He is referring to a sin that he has succumbed to over and over despite his best efforts to stop it. Though he doesn't want to keep giving in to this weakness, he cannot shake it, so he asks God to deliver him from it. But instead of removing the thorn from Paul's flesh, He leaves it there? 

Why would God do such a thing? The answer lies in the next verse, "For my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness!" That seems like an "oxymoron". How is power made perfect in weakness? This goes against everything the world teaches us.  What was the Lord telling Paul when he says this to him?

Sometimes when we are operating in our strength it can cause us to get very prideful. We say, "Look at me, I am a paragon of spiritual strength!" We can easily become self reliant. We can easily start thinking that it is our power and strength that allows us to conquer our spiritual battles. 

But in this case God allowed Satan to put something in Paul's life that he could not fight and have victory over in his own power. Perhaps, Paul had tried this many times only to fall to this same temptation. 

Can you relate? Do you have a sinful habit in your life that no matter how many times you tell God you are going to stop it, you continue to do it? Of course, this is not an excuse to sin, but it is the reality and struggle for most Christians I know myself included. It was when Paul was at the end of his rope, when all of his willfulness had failed him, that he cried out to God. Paul had hit a bottom as they say in A.A. 

Grace is getting what we don't deserve. In that moment of powerless and crying out to God, God offered His grace to Paul and told him it was all sufficient for him. This means that Paul did not have to add anything to it. He could rely on God's grace in this area of his life. 

And what it taught Paul was that sometimes when he was at his weakest, he was actually at his strongest, because he had to rely completely on God's all sufficient grace. Paul could have no pride in conquering the thorn in the flesh because the only one who could help him live with it was God!

How do you relate to Paul's thorn in the flesh? Do you have a thorn in your flesh? An area where it seems as though as hard as you try, you keep on giving into a particular sin? What would it mean for God's grace to be sufficient for you in this area of your life? 

Perhaps it could free you from trying to beat it on your own! It could free you from constantly beating yourself up over it and thinking you always let God down. Satan's biggest strategy is to cause you to wallow in doubt, discouragement and defeat. A defeated Christian is a powerless Christian. Perhaps by raising the white flag of surrender you might actually experience victory because it no longer has the power over you it once did!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." - Galatians 5:1