✝️ Thorn in My Flesh: Finding God’s Strength in Our Weakness

🌿 A Humbling Gift from God

📖 "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." (2 Corinthians 12:7–9)

The Apostle Paul, one of the greatest missionaries of all time, admitted that he carried a burden he called a “thorn in the flesh.” We don’t know exactly what it was—illness, persecution, spiritual attack, or something else—but we know its purpose. Paul had received incredible revelations from God, visions so profound that he could have easily become proud. Yet God allowed this thorn to keep Paul humble and dependent on Him, reminding him that his life and ministry were sustained by God’s grace, not his own strength.

That is a hard truth to accept. We often want God to remove every pain and obstacle immediately. Yet sometimes He allows them to remain—not to punish us, but to protect us from pride and to display His strength in our weakness. The thorn was not a hindrance but a divine tool, pressing Paul closer to Christ. It shaped his character and sharpened his faith.

Thorns press us closer to Christ. They remind us that our story is not about our power, but His. Perhaps the trials, struggles, or hardships in your life—whether physical pain, emotional heartache, financial burden, or spiritual wrestling—have been allowed for the same reason Paul confessed. They exist not to crush you, but to draw you near to God, refine your faith, and let His power rest upon you. Each thorn can be a quiet teacher, shaping our hearts to lean on Him, trusting that His grace will always be sufficient, even when relief does not come as we hope.

Could it be that your thorn is not merely a burden, but a divine gift designed to keep you close to the Lord, reminding you daily that His strength shines brightest in your weakness?

🙏 Paul’s Plea—and Ours

Paul didn’t quietly accept his thorn at first. Scripture says he “pleaded” with God three times to take it away. This wasn’t a polite request; it was desperate, raw, and heartfelt. Imagine Paul on his knees, tears streaming down his face, trembling in humility: “Please Lord, remove this thorn from me!” His prayers were fervent, persistent, and honest—just like the prayers you may offer when life presses in.

Maybe you know exactly how Paul felt. Your thorn may be sickness. Perhaps you live with chronic pain, depend on a wheelchair, or endure treatments that never seem to end. Maybe it’s the weight of a broken heart from betrayal, a prodigal son or daughter who’s walked away, or the crushing burden of financial struggle that never seems to lift. Whatever your thorn, you’ve likely prayed the same way Paul did—with everything in you, pleading for God’s intervention, wrestling with frustration, fear, and even moments of doubt.

I think of Joni Eareckson Tada, who became a quadriplegic after a diving accident as a teenager. She begged God to heal her. When healing didn’t come, she wrestled with despair and disappointment. Yet over time, she discovered what Paul also realized: God’s grace is sufficient. She has spent decades testifying to Christ’s strength in her weakness, inspiring millions through her ministry to the disabled. Her wheelchair became her pulpit, her life a living message of perseverance and hope.

The beauty of Paul’s testimony—and Joni’s—is this: though God may not always remove the thorn, He always provides sufficient grace. Sometimes the greater miracle is not deliverance, but endurance; not the removal of difficulty, but the empowerment to walk through it. God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness, and His presence transforms trials into testimonies, heartbreak into hope, and limitation into ministry.

So, when you feel the weight of your own thorn pressing down, take heart. Lift your voice, cry out as Paul did, and trust that His grace will meet you exactly where you are. Your weakness is not the end; it is the canvas upon which God’s power is painted, a living reminder that Christ’s strength can shine brightest in the moments you feel most fragile.

👨‍👩‍👧 Faith Like Jairus and the Leper

Paul’s passionate prayers echo the cries of others in Scripture who pleaded earnestly with Jesus. Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet, trembling and desperate, begging Him to heal his dying daughter. The leper, afflicted and isolated, dropped to his knees, pleading for cleansing. Both cried out with raw desperation—and both witnessed miraculous deliverance, answers to their fervent prayers. Their faith was urgent, personal, and bold.

Yet Paul’s story took a different path. His thorn was not removed, no matter how intensely he prayed, and that can feel disappointing or even discouraging to us. But consider this: God did not love Paul any less than He loved Jairus or the leper. Instead, He chose a different kind of miracle—the miracle of sustaining grace that strengthens the believer to endure, to walk faithfully even without the relief we long for.

Missionary stories throughout history echo this truth. David Brainerd, a young missionary to Native Americans in the 1700s, battled tuberculosis for most of his short life. His journals recount nights spent coughing blood and days when weakness made even walking impossible. Yet in the midst of this relentless thorn, God poured out revival among Native tribes, and Brainerd’s testimony still fuels missions today.

Consider Amy Carmichael, missionary to India. For decades she rescued young girls from temple slavery, laboring tirelessly in a hostile environment. Late in life she became bedridden after a fall, praying for healing that never came. Yet confined to her room, her influence only grew: she wrote dozens of books and thousands of letters that continue to inspire Christians worldwide. Her thorn limited her physically, but her faith and perseverance carried her farther than her own feet ever could.

Paul, Brainerd, Carmichael, and Joni Eareckson Tada all teach the same powerful lesson: sometimes God says “yes,” sometimes He says “not yet,” and sometimes He says, “My grace is sufficient.” Each answer, though different, is filled with His unfailing love. In every situation, His strength is made perfect in our weakness, transforming our trials into testimonies, our limitations into ministry, and our deepest struggles into opportunities to experience His sustaining presence.

💪 Grace in Weakness

Paul’s thorn remained, yet God’s power was revealed in a way that surpassed human understanding. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). That verse has comforted countless believers through centuries, reminding us that God’s strength often shines brightest in our frailty, in the moments when we feel least capable of enduring. Weakness is not a sign of failure—it is a canvas for God’s power to be displayed.

Consider Corrie ten Boom, who survived the horrors of Ravensbrück concentration camp during World War II. She once asked her father how she could endure the suffering and terror that lay ahead when the Nazis arrested her family. He responded with a story about train tickets: “When you take a trip on the train, when do I give you the ticket—weeks before, or just before you get on?” She answered, “Just before.” Her father said, “So it is with God’s grace. He will give you what you need exactly when you need it—not before.” That wisdom reflects the heart of Paul’s thorn: God’s grace is perfectly timed.

💬 “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.”
— Corrie ten Boom 

This is the deeper lesson: grace doesn’t always remove the struggle, but it always arrives just in time. Physical pain, emotional heartbreak, spiritual attacks—they may remain, but they become a stage for God’s power to shine through. Weakness transforms from a burden into a window for divine strength, endurance, and hope.

So don’t stop praying. Don’t stop hoping. Lift your voice as Paul did, trusting that God will meet you in the very place of your need. Pray without ceasing, yet also walk forward in faith, believing that God’s grace is enough for every trial you face. P.U.S.H.—Pray Until Something Happens. Sometimes the miracle isn’t the thorn vanishing, but Christ appearing more vividly in your life, sustaining you, shaping you, and revealing His glory in ways that remove despair and multiply hope.