The Lord gave Paul at starting what brought his own energy to a close. It was as if He had said:
“Paul, I am going to use you a great deal down here; but before I can do this I must first bring you into a condition of cripplement, in which you will feel that you cannot do without Me, and which will make it plain to all that it is I who do the work, not you, It is for this end that I send you a thorn in the flesh. Do not ask Me to take it away. I will do what is far better for you, and more glorifying to Me: I will cause My power to rest upon you, and perfect My strength in your weakness.”
Not only do we need the Lord to give us eternal life, but we need Him to guide it all the way through. He has never promised that we shall be exempt from trial, and circumstances of difficulty. What He intends is, that we should turn to Him in the trial, and learn that our resources are in Him, not in ourselves. All the trials of the wilderness, the rough places of the way, instead of discouraging us, should be welcomed as opportunities of proving the exceeding greatness of the power treasured up for our use in a risen, living Lord to meet us in them, and raise us above them. It is with the Lord of resurrection that we have to do. The daily petty annoyances and vexations we meet with are permitted to spring up like thorns in our path, to exercise our minds, and put us to the test whether we will turn to Him in them and prove the sufficiency of His grace, enduring as seeing Him who is invisible, or just walk by sight as other men.