And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7–10
Much speculation has been made about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” Was it chronic pain of some sort, perhaps headaches induced by the stress of his travel and care for the churches? Was it malaria or some other disease that impaired his vision (cf. Galatians 4:15; 6:11)? These are only a few of the possibilities proposed by various writers, but our purpose here is not to discuss what this thorn may have been, but rather to learn what it teaches about the way in which God can strengthen us most at the moments when we seem to be weakest.
We all have infirmities that we are forced to deal with from time to time. Consider Paul’s attitude toward his. Paul says that his thorn was “given to him.” This seems to indicate that he came to recognize his affliction as a gift, although it did not appear to be a blessing at its first appearance. On the other hand, he also calls it a “messenger of Satan,” for Satan will use for evil what God intends for our good. God can only give good things (James 1:17), but Satan will use God’s good things against us if we let him. Paul realized that his infirmity was a guard to his humility. As an apostle, Paul could easily have fallen into the pit of conceit in light of the great ways God had used him as an evangelist and as a prophet (v 4). On one occasion, Paul was mistaken for a god (Acts 14:11)! This affliction helped keep Paul from falling into the snare or pride (cf. 1 Timothy 3:7). When Paul prayed for the thorn’s removal, he graciously accepted the Lord’s response: “My grace is sufficient for you.” If Paul had been lifted up with pride, he and others might have become convinced that “the excellence of the power” (2 Corinthians 4:7) was something that belonged to mortal men, but when he accepted the fact that he himself was full of weakness, he allowed the awesome power of Christ to rest upon him (v 9).
Paul is by no means the only one who “out of weakness was made strong” (Hebrews 11:32–38), for God’s strength was exhibited in the weakness of Gideon, who never could not have driven out the raiding Midianites with his pitiful band of soldiers who lapped water like dogs (Judges 6:15; 7:2–7) unless God had been with him. God’s strength was exhibited in Samson, but only after all of his strength was taken away from him by a woman (Judges 16:15–21). And everyone knows that a little shepherd boy cannot kill a lion and a bear with his bare hands (1 Samuel 17:34–37)––let alone a giant warrior with a sling and a stone!––without God’s help.
When you think about it, we find our strength in Jesus’ “weakness.” Are not the most celebrated moments in His life the very moments when He appeared the most vulnerable? What is weaker than a newborn baby? And yet even the angels rejoiced over Jesus’ birth! Who could ever appear weaker than a man who was taken without the least resistance, brutalized by men, and hanged to die all alone on a tree? Our Lord took upon Himself the appearance of weakness (Philippians 2:5–8) just so that He might grant us the power to become sons of God (John 1:12).