Brothers and sisters:
That I, Paul, might not become too elated, because of the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”
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. -2 Cor 12:7-12
Countless maladies have been proposed as Paul's burden; everything from stuttering to carnal desires to a tag-along son who was a scoundrel and apostate.
Paul is vague when describing his burden and I think that is intentional. We all have unique weaknesses and we can read this passage as directly applying to us and our struggles.
If I were to write this as a screen-play, I would write Paul's debilitating condition as severe Migraine or Thunderclap headaches because Paul uses the metaphor "thorn in the flesh" which sounds like a physical rather than a social condition. Additionally, God would probably choose a reminder of what happened on the Road to Damascus to rein Paul in when he deviated too far from the message He wanted dispensed.
Excellent point, bears thinking on....
ReplyDeleteI always wondered if the thorn was the command to not disclose the "vision" or the actual visitation of the third heaven. He was a great expositor, and knowing something you couldn't tell anyone about would have been a huge burden to carry. He did a great reveal of the mystery: That is Christ IN you the hope of glory.
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