Our Thorn by J. R. Miller Lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was
given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 2 Corinthians
12 verse 7 Paul tells us that his thorn
was given to him to keep him humble and save him from spiritual
peril. Without it, he would have been
exalted above measure and would have lost his spirituality. We do not know how much of his
deep insight into the things of God and his power and service
for his master Paul owed to this torturing thorn. It seemed to
hinder him, and it caused him incessant suffering, but it detained
him in the low valley of humility, made him ever conscious of his
own weakness and insufficiency, and thus kept him near to Christ,
whose home is with the humble. There are few people who have
not some thorn rankling in their flesh. In one it is an infirmity
of speech, in another an infirmity of sight, in another an infirmity
of hearing, or it may be lameness, or a slow but incurable disease,
or constitutional timidity, or excessive nervousness, or a disfiguring
bodily deformity, or an infirmity of temper, or it may be in one's
home which is cold, unloving, and uncongenial, or it may be
some moral failure, or it may be a bitter personal disappointment
through untrue friendship or unrequited love. Who has not
his thorn? We should never forget that in
one sense, our thorn is a messenger of Satan who desires by it to
hurt our life, to mar our peace, to spoil the divine beauty in
us, and to break our communion with Christ. On the other hand,
however, Christ himself has a loving design in our thorn. He wants it to be a blessing
to us. He would have it keep us humble
and save us from becoming vain. Or he means it to soften our
hearts and make us more gentle. He would have the uncongenial
things in our environment to discipline us into heavenly mindedness,
give us greater self-control, and help us to keep our hearts
loving and sweet amid harshness and unlovingness. He would have
our pain teach us endurance and patience, and our sorrow and
loss teach us faith. Thus, our thorn may either be
a choice blessing to us, or it may do us irreparable harm. If we allow it to fret us, if
we chafe, resist, and complain, if we lose faith and lose heart,
it will spoil our life. But if we accept it in the faith
that, in its ugly burden, it has a blessing for us, If we
endure it patiently, submissively, unmurmuringly, if we seek grace
to keep our heart gentle and true amid all the trial, temptation,
and suffering it causes, it will work good for us, and out of
its bitterness will come sweet fruit. This Puritan devotional has been
brought to you by Grace Gems, a treasury of ageless Sovereign
Grace writings. Please visit our website at www.gracegems.org,
where you can browse and freely download thousands of choice
books, sermons, and quotes, along with select audio messages. No
donations accepted. Thank you.