June 17, 2024
Read Judges 4, Song of Songs 1, 2 Corinthians 12
We have all faced things in our lives that are difficult. Each of us have our own suffering that face. Sometimes these are things like dealing with locking our keys in our car and other times it is dealing with the loss of a loved one.
Sometimes when we read through the Bible we can loose sight of the difficulties that many of the people named in the Bible faced. We tend to look at the great victories that described how God answered a prayer or worked a miracle in a situation. But if not equally so, there are plenty of examples in Scripture when people faced hard times and even gave their lives for their faith. Joseph, Job, Stehpen, the disciples, just to name a few. In 2 Corinthians 12 we find the Apostle Paul sharing his personal story about a “thorn” that he had to face. “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. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me” vv. 7-8. Paul called this unknown thorn “a messenger of Satan,” that cannot be a good thing. No one know what it was exactly, but many have made an attempt to guess. Was it something physical like a sickness or maybe something to do with his eye sight since he was blinded on the road to Damascus? Others point to it being something on the mental or spiritual level. Was it the constant reminder of those Paul was directly or indirectly responsible for being persecuted or killed for their faith in Christ before his conversion? No matter what it was, we do know the answer that God gave to Paul.
“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. 10 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” vv. 9-10. God’s grace would be sufficient in Paul’s life. We all need the grace of God in our lives. Grace is often defined by it’s own spelling, God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
What else do you see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you?
Add your thoughts below.
DId God Really Say... 