2 Corinthians 12 7-10 notes

Some people become defined by their hardships while others rise above their pain. Maybe you know people with handicaps who don’t think of themselves as handicapped? I heard of a soldier who returned from Iraq who lost a leg; he got fitted for a prosthesis and ran a marathon. Do we accept our limitations, or do we constantly complain about them? We may even discover some benefits from our “thorns”. God is discovered, not so much through miraculous displays of power, but through times of great suffering, testing, and human weakness.

We pray for people who are sick or injured, and sometimes they don’t recover. In the well-documented case of Joni Eareckson, her paralyzing injury led her to start an advocacy ministry for the handicapped, and her testimony has inspired countless people. Her paintings, recordings, radio show, and books have given insight to people who deal with chronic disability. Joni has enough faith to believe God can heal her; yet she’s convinced that God wants to use her wheelchair as a means of showing how believers can rise above human suffering. Our troubles can become a source of blessing. Joni also has pointed out, “When Christians suffer, people are watching.“

God did not give Paul his thorn; as with Job, God allowed the devil to afflict Paul. Joni has noted that at times both God and the Devil may want the same thing for opposite reasons. Satan wants us to give up on life and God, become bitter and cease living for God. The Lord sometimes shapes His saints on the Devil’s anvil. He wants us to triumph over our weaknesses and afflictions, and through them to become more compassionate and effective in encouraging others.

God’s answer to Paul is that His grace is sufficient for human weakness. How is “grace” the remedy for pain? Perhaps grace leads us to learn from our limitations. Are you going through some thorny situations? Phil Yancy writes, “Grace is for the desperate, the needy, the broken, those who cannot make it on their own. Grace is for all of us.” We can’t “fix” our pain, only God can. We can grow from our experience. No one in Heaven will look back to any part of their earthly lives and say, ‘That was not right; that was not necessary.’