So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. -2 Corinthians 12:7-9, ESV
We often hear messages about the grace of God, but rarely do they seem to be about the gift of God’s grace to endure suffering for the sake of sanctification and ultimately for the glory of God. As pastors, this is a message we should preach often because everyone experiences suffering.
“Everyone has suffered, is suffering, or will suffer at some point in this life.” - John Piper
It is true that in Christ we have the victory and that ultimately, we will fully and permanently overcome because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, it is even true to say, “We have overcome,” but that does not mean that living a life completely free of suffering will ever be possible in our time on the earth. If we address this topic honestly and biblically from the pulpit, we will provide those we shepherd with hope, endurance, and even power.
In 2 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul shares a situation where he made prayer and supplication to the Lord in hopes of being relieved of some type of personal suffering. The text doesn’t implicitly say what his “thorn in the flesh” was, but it really doesn’t matter because whether it was some sickness or human malady or some persecution, trial, situation, or temptation the answer God gives him can apply to all of these.
Paul says that since he had been used greatly by the Lord, God himself had allowed some sort of suffering to remain in his life, which he refers to as “a thorn in the flesh” to expose his human weakness and neediness. It says that Paul pleaded with God three times to remove it from him, but God’s response was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Suffering exposes our weakness. Those who walk in truth know they are weak, poor, and destitute apart from God. But there is another benefit to the thorn in the flesh, it unifies us with Christ and causes his power to rest upon our lives. Listen to what Paul says in verse nine: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
In Scripture, the power of God was usually accompanied by the presence of human weakness and deficiency. But why? To ensure that all glory would be given to God and not men. God showed his power by killing the Philistine giant Goliath with a rock and a sling at the hands of a young boy. God showed his wisdom when he helped Gideon, with only three hundred men, overcome the mighty Midianite army that numbered in the thousands. God defeated eight hundred and fifty false prophets on Mt. Carmel through the prayer of one man. And all of this to glorify himself.
In our weakness, the power of Christ rests upon us, but there is also one more benefit, it makes us more like Christ. Suffering accompanied by the grace of God shows us that God’s grace is more than sufficient in every situation. It helps us grow in our trust in God, identifies us with Christ, and makes us more and more like him.
Sanctification is one of the most important parts of our Christian life. So often preachers tell the people they minister to that God has the power to change a situation, overcome an enemy, heal them, or help them in some way, and all of these things are true, but often they fail to tell them that if God doesn’t answer their prayers the way they hope he does that his grace is still sufficient; in our weakness he is strong, and that in our weakness and suffering the power of Christ rests upon us.
In Christ,
Pastor Joshua
Joshua West is a pastor, evangelist, and author. He is also director of the World Challenge Pastors Network.