Devotional: Grace for the Thorns

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

“And he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Cor. 12:9, NASB).

My youngest brother Clay (now deceased) comes to visit. Clay and I are in the den room and Abra, my daughter is in the adjoining bedroom watching television. Clay and I are sharing things that are taking place in our lives. At some point I begin to describe some of the difficulties that I am facing in regards to my marriage and family life. My daughter is just a little girl. She is the apple of daddy’s eye. She is the one person in my life that brings me only joy. Clay listens patiently as he so often does. Then he says to me: “Well all of that is the thorn in your life. Back there is your grace.”

All of us have thorns in our life, but God gives us grace to live with the thorns. Of course we would rather that God remove the thorns, because thorns are painful and makes it difficult to do the things that we want to do. Thorns have the potential to nullify our joy, peace, happiness, and our pursuits in life. Thorns make life seem unbearable.

God will not remove the thorns. Thorns have a purpose. Thorns keep us from becoming too arrogant and proud. Thorns keep us grounded and remind us of our need to depend of God. You see if we get too proud and arrogant, we begin to think about our own self sufficiency. Then, we may begin to seek to do our own thing instead of staying committed to the things that God calls us to do.

Prayer: Lord we thank you for all the blessings that you give to us. We do not enjoy the thorns, but we are thankful that you give us grace to live with the thorns. Amen