Why should we thank God for thorns?  Imagine what we would be like if the ground had not been cursed along with our fall into sin.  Like Satan, we would pursue our own selfish desires with nothing to humble us and show us our need for God and our need for His grace.  Our selfish pride would spiral out of control.

Paul was a mighty man for God.  He had much to boast about even before Jesus confronted him, redeemed him, and called him into His service.  He was legitimately an apostle of Christ, and he faithfully fulfilled God’s calling on his life in spite of great personal sacrifice and suffering.  He showed his strong conviction, his courage, and his ability to endure over and over again.  We all admire him for these things.  In addition to that, God showed Paul wonderful, inexpressible visions and images that only he saw.  There was so much that he could boast about, and if allowed to develop into conceit (which is pride in one’s self and one’s own abilities), it could lead Paul away from God and ultimately destroy his witness for Christ.

The thorn that Paul was given served to keep this from happening.  It wasn’t a small thing to Paul.  It tormented him and drove Paul to plead with God to remove it.  But God knew that Paul needed the thorn, though it caused him additional pain and suffering, so He refused to deliver Paul from it.  It was so humbling and so humiliating to Paul that he didn’t tell what it was.  Although he could “foolishly” boast about all the other things he had suffered, he couldn’t boast about this.  It showed him how truly weak he was.  It made him understand his need for God’s grace and for God’s power.  It drove him back into God’s arms, which is where God wanted him to be.

It is where we all need to be.  Without our own thorns, imagine how difficult it would be to walk humbly with God and to seek His grace in our lives.  Another reason God’s Word doesn’t name Paul’s thorn is so we can each identify his thorn with our own special weaknesses and our own special problems.  God has gifted us with wonderful talents and abilities that can and should be used for His glory.  But those same gifts could lead us into disastrous pride and selfishness if we forgot where they came from and forgot how weak and vulnerable we are without God.

God’s amazing grace is not just for salvation; it is for daily living.  Thank God for the thorns that keep us humble and keep us in close fellowship with the Source of our hope and our strength.  We rightly cry out, “God have mercy on us,” and He does, He has, and He always will.  Thank him for the incredible joy of having to see His grace lived out in us.