A Thorn in the Flesh 2 Corinthians 12: I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not knowGod knows

3 And I know that this manwhether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say,

7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christs power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christs sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

A thorn in the flesh: 1.A trouble to prevent 2.A trial to protect 3.A triumph to promote

A Trouble to Prevent v.7... to keep me from being conceited... - the danger he faced was that theres something that might lead him to pride and conceit - theres always a great danger when God does something in our lives or something through our lives that we are excited by and be grateful for, but begin to want to take credit for. - Great moments lead to great battles sometimes

A Trial to Protect v.7... in order to keep me from being conceited I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. - its a gift, it was given under Gods expressed permission - this is a perspective that could only come from knowing God and knowing the ways of God

A Triumph to Promote v.8-9 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. - whatever drove us to prayer will always be a blessing for us - theres something greater behind all those tribulations, that we can only learn in this way, the grace of God

-it is those experiences and applications in our lives when it is God doing what we cannot do, it is God being what we cannot find in ourselves - we embrace these things that have been allowed in our lives as channels for God's grace in a way that we might never have known it before

Jeremiah 9: This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord. - what usually brings us to know God in a deeper way is when we are stripped of those things that makes us think Im smart, Im rich, I'm strong.

Conclusion: - It is His grace, His presence that is the antidote for our thorn in the flesh - The best things in our lives are the things that drive us back to God in a fresh sense of dependence and need of His grace, His presence, His word.