OPEN: Years ago, the story was told of a Sunday School teacher who – on the Sunday before Thanksgiving - was encouraging the children in her class to share things they were grateful for.
A little boy was asked what he was thankful for, and he thought for a moment. Then the boy went through a whole laundry list of things he was thankful for… including being thankful for his glasses.
The teacher thought that was a bit peculiar. Most of the children she knew didn’t particularly like to wear their glasses… but this little boy was very enthusiastic about them. So asked him why he was thankful to have to wear glasses.
He answered with these words: “Because they keep the boys from hitting me…and the girls from kissing me.”
APPLY: When I was younger, a lot of kids rebelled at the idea of wearing glasses. Glasses in my day weren’t a “fashion statement” – they were glasses. Something you had to wear to in order to see. But they weren’t the most attractive things in the world… mine were horn rimmed and ugly, but functional.
And so, sometimes kids would refuse to wear them to school… often putting them in their lockers or their desks at school. They’d rather look at a world filled with blurry images than face the embarrassment of being seen as less than perfect… or being made fun of by their peers.
But not this little boy. He looked at what others saw as a weakness – and saw instead an advantage, a strength. He had learned a deep truth that many people never fully understand:
That which many people perceive as being a weakness, can actually become the source of our strength, and our comfort.
I. That was what God was teaching Paul here in 2 Corinthians
Now, you wouldn’t think that Paul would need to be “taught.” Paul was one of the greatest teachers of the early church. I mean, he wrote about ½ of the New Testament. And those writings formed much of the foundation for what we know about Jesus and the church, and our salvation.
In addition to that, as Paul tells us here in II Corinthians God had been allowed him to see special things - visions of heaven few men had ever seen before.
So, you wouldn’t think Paul would need to be taught much of anything.
But there was something Paul needed to learn, and becoming weak was the only way God could teach Paul this valuable lesson.
Look again with me to II Corinthians 12:7. Paul tells us: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”
II. God had something to teach Paul/ something Paul could only learn if he became weak…what was it?
Well… Paul was MADE weak to learn that he WAS weak.
Paul explains to us that he was given this thorn to keep him from “becoming conceited”. Conceited people believe they are strong. They are impressed with themselves and what they’ve done, and what they can do. And they’re more than happy to share that knowledge with you. That’s how we know they’re conceited. Conceit is a trait of people who are self-contained. They believe they are “in control”. They don’t need help from anyone.
As far as God is concerned, people who are conceited are out of touch with reality. They are not wise, and being exposed to personal weakness is a way to learn wisdom… to learn how to make wise choices in my life.
ILLUS: For example… let’s say that next week I get a chance to go to California. While I’m there, I rent a car and drive around the state capital. I’m stopped at a stoplight and I get rear-ended by a very expensive car. I’m not really hurt, but I’m a little upset. I get out of my car and the other driver gets out of his. This guy seems to think that the accident was my fault. He becomes abusive. He gets me mad. And I say some things I shouldn’t.
Oh… and did I mention this other fellow was the Governor of California. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Like I said, he’s upset, so he challenges me to a fight… right there out in the middle of the street.
Now… what do you think? Arnold is getting to be an old man now, do you think I might be able to take him?
I think not! Compared to Schwarzenegger, I’m a girly man… and I’m more than willing to accept that. BECAUSE I REALIZE - that compared to him - I’m weak
Recognizing my weakness compared to Gov. Schwarzenegger, is a mark of wisdom. And I’m going to make wise choices… I’m going to get back into my car, lock the doors and wait for the police to show up.
Likewise, recognizing my weakness in God’s presence is also a mark of wisdom. It helps me to make wise choices when I’m dealing with the difficulties and conflicts of my life. It helps me to realize that I NEED God to work in my life because I AM weak. I’ll tend to look less to myself and more to God for strength. I accept my weakness - and thus - I lean more upon God.
So, Paul needed to become weak to learn that he was weak…
III. But Paul also needed to learn something else from this thorn in his flesh.
He had to learn how to deal with something in his life he could not control or change.
ILLUS: Several years ago, I read a story about Burt Reynolds. Reynolds recalled the day that both he and Clint Eastwood got fired from Universal Studios. Burt Reynolds said:
“I was told I couldn’t act, and Clint was told he walked too slow & his Adam’s apple was too big. As we were walking to our cars, we were quiet - but then, it’s always quiet around Clint. Finally I said, ‘You’re in trouble Clint. I can take acting lessons, but you can’t get a new Adam’s apple.’”
What does that story tell me? It tells me that there are certain things in my life that I can control and change. If I need a certain skill in my life, I can get training or attend a seminar. If my body is need of attention, I can go on a diet and exercise. If I’m struggling with a bad habit, I can get rid of it and replace with good habits.
BUT there are many other things in our life that you and I can’t change. Certain circumstances that are beyond our control. Sometimes we can handle that. But when these circumstances become wall and obstructions to our lives… obstacles that we can’t seem to get around, or over, or through…. we can feel powerless, frustrated, helpless, vulnerable.
Now, I’m going to be honest with you… I don’t like feeling that way. In fact, when I encounter situations like that, I can be a very uncomfortable person to be around because I can become irritable and even angry.
But those times will come. And when they come… how we respond can make all the difference in determining what kind of person we become. Whether we end up becoming angry and bitter toward the unfairness of what we’ve experienced. Or if we become stronger and more Christ-like because of the struggle.
IV. This “thorn in the flesh” that Paul experienced was NOT pleasant
You can tell by the terminology he used to describe it.
Look at vs. 7. Who does Paul say gave him this thorn? (Satan). That’s right Satan. Satan was Paul’s adversary, his enemy. Satan is the one creature in this world who attempt to destroy Paul’s ministry by any and every means possible.
That’s how Paul sees this thorn in his flesh. It isn’t right that this should happen to him. It isn’t fair. He’s prayed… not once… not twice… but THREE times that God should remove this suffering from his life. But God won’t.
So, he doesn’t like it.
He can’t change it.
And God won’t remove it.
Had Paul focused on the injustice of this torment in his life, he could have become a very bitter man and his ministry for Christ would have been torn down around him as he sat consumed by how unfair this harsh and excessive situation had become for him.
But that’s not how Paul dealt with his thorn…
LOOK AT IT: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
“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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Did you catch that?
He’s boasting in his weakness.
He’s delighting in the weaknesses and insults and hardships and persecutions and difficulties.
Is he crazy??? That doesn’t make any sense.
Well... yeah, it does make sense if you consider where Paul has focused his attention.
You see: People who become embittered and angry over things they cannot change have their eyes focused on their problem… their thorn in the flesh.
But Paul focused his attention on God. He was looking to God for the promise God had made him. Look at it again in vs. 9
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
What does that mean?
It means that God can only show His power when we’re weak enough to need it. And that makes sense when you think about it. If we’re not weak, why would need God’s power? If we could do it all by ourselves, God would be unnecessary, and we probably wouldn’t even bother to recognize His contribution.
ILLUS: You know, I’ve had some difficult times in my ministry. In fact, Diana told me that we have had as tough a time here as we’d had the previous two churches – I was going to be selling insurance. But it was when my back was up against the wall and I’d done everything I could think of deal with the conflicts that I and Diana faced… when all my strength was gone and all my wisdom was played out… then God stepped in and did the unexpected in very dynamic ways. And because of those experiences, those difficult times have been the source of some of my favorite stories. Not stories of how wise or clever I had been, but how faithful God showed Himself to be.
A woman by the name of Joyce C. Lock wisely observed that “Today’s difficulties are tomorrow’s testimonies.”
God had made Paul a promise: I can take your weakness and use it to display my power.
And that promise is a lot like another promise God made in Romans 8: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
Not all things are good
Not all things are necessarily from God
But if we love Him and trust Him… God can take our tragedies, misfortunes, heartache, anguish and despair… and work it all so that good comes from that which hurts us
CLOSE: If life gets harsh enough. If the obstacles in our lives become overwhelming and threaten to crush us, the “thorns of the flesh” can nearly destroy us. Unless…
ILLUS: Back in 1967, a young girl was swimming with her sister in the Chesapeake Bay. Because she was unfamiliar with the area, she dived into the water in a fairly shallow spot, and broke her neck. She became a quadriplegic – unable to feed herself, or make it through the day without someone helping her to go to the bathroom.
She had to go through 2 years of painful rehabilitation and at one point she prayed for God to “finish the job.” And had she been able to use her hands, I suspect she would have helped Him out in finishing the job. She became angry with God, demanding to know why he let this happen.
And can you blame her? Can you sense the hopelessness and helplessness she must have felt?
She had been faced with a situation in her life she could not control and could not change.
She was weak and powerless and her anger and bitterness nearly destroyed her.
And it would have too… if she hadn’t been for a special friend..
Her friend reminded her that Jesus knew how she felt, that she was convinced God did care for her. Her friend told her that Jesus, too, had been paralyzed. He couldn’t move or change position on the cross. The nails paralyzed him.
It was that one kind observation from her friend that helped her to… move her eyes off of her own tragedy and focus on the cross of Christ.
By the way, her name was Joni… Joni Erickson Tada. In the years since her accident, she has changed her outlook on her life. And not only has her life changed but so have the lives of thousands of others who have seen her artwork, listened to her radio programs and attended her teaching sessions.
What made the difference? She took her eyes off of the thorn in life and turned her eyes to the cross. That changed her life so that she began a ministry that has literally ministered to thousands of people who have encountered disability and tragedies of every kind. Because she looked to the cross she has done more with her life than many of us will ever be able to manage.
The others sermons in this series are:
1. Irreplaceable - Genesis 1:24-31
2. Shaped to be a Servant - Ephesians 2:3-10
3. Making God Smile - Psalm 51:15-19
4. Formed to be Friends of God - John 15:9-16
5. Adopted for a Purpose - Ephesians 1:3-14
6. A Purpose Filled Love - 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
7. Purpose Driven Worship - Romans 12:1-8
8. Purpose Driven Strength - 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
