Grace Enough

The apostle Paul suffered a "thorn in his flesh," (2 Cor 12:8), given to keep him humble.  While there is no clear biblical statement given as to what it was, my thinking is that it was failing eyesight as Paul wrote to the Galatians, "I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me" (Gal 4:15b).  One can only imagine the difficulty going blind would cause an itinerate preacher in the 1st century.

Regardless of what it was, I do know the answer for his circumstance: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9).  God's answer was not to take away Paul's difficulty but to remind him that the Lord's gifts  would carry him through - that he need not worry whether his ability was enough for God's ability was more than enough.

The thorn God allowed was an opportunity for Paul to turn away from self-reliance to reliance on God.  He could give up the notion and the concern of whether he was capable and rest in the knowledge that God is more than able to face or accomplish whatever was set before Paul.  This thorn was both God's challenge to Paul's faith and God's power released in Paul's faith.

Here's the thing about the size of one's faith: "Oh, brethren, be great believers!  Little faith will bring our souls to Heaven, but great faith will bring Heaven to our souls" (C.H. Spurgeon).  Salvation is based on just enough faith to put our faith in Jesus but confidence is based on the developing of that faith as we lean on and trust in God to do what we cannot do.

Imagine the confidence and the peace one would have if he/she truly accepted this truth: God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Gal 3:20).  What would you be facing that you wouldn't have the power to overcome?  Jus' Ask'n.