Paul’s spoke of his, ‘thorn in the flesh’, but we can’t be
sure what that thorn was. It is assumed
to have been some sort of physical ailment.
Apparently God never healed him of this affliction. We do know that Paul suffered quite a bit of
physical pain during his life as seen in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27: “Of the Jews
five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been
in the deep; In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in
perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watching often, in hunger and
thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness”. Despite all that Paul went through he said: "I
will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of
Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses,
insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for
when I am weak, then I am strong".
“And 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[1]”.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul again describes his physical weakness: “You
remember why I preached the gospel to you the first time; it was because I was
ill. But even though my physical condition was a great trial to you, you did
not despise or reject me.”[2]
People might say that the worst pain in the world is the
loss of a child. You might think that
Jesus never felt that kind of pain, however, there is rejoicing in Heaven every
time a person gives their life to Christ, because it’s one more time God has
not lost another of his children. My
wife and I lost a daughter back in the seventies. I can tell you that the experience was
indescribable. Candace only lived about
an hour, but in that time I got to hold her little hand and pray for her. I am sure that she is waiting for us in
Heaven and the reunion will be wonderful.
I can’t imagine the grief God feels over each of those of His creation
who reject Him and go to Hell.
Suffering is not always brought on by Satan. Sometimes
suffering is sent from the Lord, either to bring people back to what they
should be or, as in the case of the Israelis, because they had turned their
back on God and abused the gifts God had given them. One thing we must never forget: Jesus was a
crucified Rabbi. The Jews were subjected
to a great deal of suffering over the ages, but no one suffered anywhere near
as much as Jesus did. He knew what was
ahead for Him before He left the Father to do the Father’s will, and pay the
price for our transgressions. Failure to
recognize this fact is the disgrace of mankind since the crucifixion and
resurrection.
If someone ever tells you that you are not healed because
you don’t have enough faith, “saturate that place with your absence”[3]. I was subjected to this kind of rubbish myself. I had suffered a subtalar dislocation of my
left foot. That means, due to a fall, I
had put my left foot on the side of my leg because of a separation of the ankle
bones at the talus bone. The doctors
told me I would never walk very well again. Their group had done seven
surgeries similar to mine and none of those patients were doing very well. I said that, with the Lords help, I would do
the proper exercises and walk normally.
After my recovery, I amazed the doctors by the extent of my
recuperation. I did tend to limp some
when it rained, and that limping was used by some to say I needed to get right
with the Lord and receive full healing.
God does not give pain; He allows it – there is no pain in
Heaven, however, it can be a teaching method used only on earth. A Bible teacher once told me, we get sick
because we have sinned against God, and because there are germs in the air[4].
What greater pain is there in marriage than physical abuse,
mental abuse or adultery? All three are
a fundamental break in the trust of the union of two souls that God has joined
together as one flesh. Wife ( and for
that matter husband) beaters are not only committing an act against the one
they are sworn to nurture, but also a sin against the Lord, who had sanctified
the marriage. In the Bible, mental
control of your partner is spoken against as being witchcraft. Many people don’t know the difference between
fornication and adultery. Fornication is
the act of sexual sin committed before marriage whereas adultery is an act of
sexual sin while married. Each act is
the joining of two souls. Fornication is
the sex act performed by people without the required blessing of marriage. Adultery, on the other hand, is the joining
of two people therefore breaking their vows to God and their spouse, which
makes it twice as bad. If a Christian
should commit either sin he has dragged the Holy Spirit into it with him,
because the Spirit never departs from him.
Do you really think it gives the Spirit of God joy to go with you into a
strip bar or bawdy house?
We do know that the Lord will never allow us to suffer more
than we can bear (the Bible says so). Sometimes
I wish He hadn’t made me so strong. Although
God did not heal Paul’s thorn in the flesh, Paul said that God’s grace was
sufficient for him. God never said we
would be free from pain and suffering in this life. What He did promise, was to be with us in all
things. “I will never leave you nor
forsake you.”[5]
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