PAUL’S GIFT OF PAIN!

PAUL’S GIFT OF PAIN!

2 Cor 12:7-10

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9 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.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

          The monks and mystics of early days separated themselves from companionship and endured self-inflicted pain believing that it produced a superior spiritual insight. Perhaps it did. Paul was given the gift of pain and along with it he received these following things.

          Humility! Because Paul had been given unusual and superior spiritual insights into the things of God, it seemed good to God to give him a constant reminder of his humanity and frailty. We are not told what the pain actually was. We are left by Paul to speculate even as to whether it was physical, mental or emotional. It was pain! And it was constant pain.

          Grace! Someone once defined grace as “the desire and ability to do God’s will.” For every human deficiency there was given to Paul a divine sufficiency equal to or superior to his need. He was able later to declare that he had “learned” to be content in whatever state he found himself. He said “I know how to be abased and how to abound.” He counted the condition of want and plenty the same. This does not mean that he preferred want to plenty – but that he had learned to lean on the Provider in both cases.

          Intimacy! It is one thing to know about God and quite another to actually know Him. Paul was highly educated and we think he possessed an incredible intellect. However only in his pain did Paul experience intimacy with God. Later in his life he declared his desire to “know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” Phil 3:10.

          If you are suffering pain today, look to the One who gave it for accompanying benefits.

Dear Lord, I do not ask for pain but when pain arrives let me also recognize the gifts which accompany it. AMEN