Have you ever had a splinter?
They’re not fun.
They get lodged in weird places and under layers of skin you didn’t even realize you had.
And they usually don’t just sit there silently under those layers of skin.
They keep reminding you that they’re there—day in and day out until you get them out.
Life can give you splinters too.
They aren’t little pieces of wood or glass or metal; they’re people, or issues, or problems. But just like little pieces of wood or glass or metal, they get under your skin; they keep reminding you that they’re there; they keep agitating you and causing you pain.
Ever heard of the apostle Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”?
You can Google it if you want to.
You’ll find all kinds of theories and “educated guesses.”
But what was it really?
We find Paul’s mention of it in 2 Corinthians 12:6-
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given 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, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.People have used this Scripture to justify their belief that God doesn’t solve every problem or to justify their belief that God doesn’t heal everyone. But they’re wrong.
See, Paul didn’t say his thorn in the flesh was sickness. In fact, if we look at the Scripture in context, we see that he refers to the thorn as a messenger from Satan—a spirit, or a problem—intent on tormenting him.
Paul’s thorn in the flesh was a splinter.
Not a literal splinter of wood or glass or metal, but a life splinter.
Paul’s thorn in the flesh was a problem sent by Satan to slow him down, to stop him from advancing the Kingdom of God.
Paul tells us that He asked God to take it away from him, not just once, but three times. But God didn’t pull the splinter out. Instead, He told Paul that His grace is sufficient, that His power is made perfect in weakness.
See, we all have a cap. We all have weaknesses. We all have a certain level we can push and work hard to get to in our own abilities. And, sure, your abilities may be pretty impressive, but God wants to take you even farther.
God wants to take you to a place where people look at you and think, “There’s NO way he could be doing that on his own. That has to be God.”
