“There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:7-9).
Many there are among the saints who know something about “a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.” It may be some physical infirmity, as was evidently the case with Paul. Or it may be a testing or a pressure of some other nature, for which prayer for its removal has been made many times. However, the Lord has not seen fit to remove it. It is not that He is unconcerned, for He “is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” But He wants us to learn to draw our strength from Him, who is “the God of all grace.” He not only has saving grace, but He also has sustaining grace, and His “strength is made perfect in [our] weakness.” “Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat.”
Have you cried to Him many times
That your “thorn in the flesh” might go?
But still He has not removed it,
For to you His grace He would show.
Heb. 4:15; 1 Peter 5:10; Isa. 25:4.