Spend time in prayer and silence with God, asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions and in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
– 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Devotion
Paul reminds his readers that he suffered from a “thorn in the flesh.” No one knows exactly what this infirmity was, but Paul acknowledges that God used this “thorn in the flesh” to keep him humble, to keep him from exalting himself. Paul asked the Lord three times to remove this infirmity, and the Lord refused. The Lord revealed that He would remove the thorn but give him the grace to bear the thorn. Because of Paul’s weakness, the Spirit of God was empowering him. We are often tempted to do the Lord’s work in our own strength, but God has a way of humbling us so that through our weaknesses He is glorified. We often see our struggles as a negative when, in fact, God may be allowing them as a way to increase our faith and bring glory to Himself.
The Big Question
Are you struggling with some kind of thorn in the flesh? If so, how does this passage of Scripture shape your understanding of how God might use your struggles to conform you into the image of Christ? How does God receive glory through our weaknesses? How does Paul’s example encourage you today?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence, reflecting on what God revealed to you today.