Why God Doesn't Remove the Thorn
On Valentine's Day, my boyfriend bought me a bouquet of red roses, a classic symbol of love. We were trimming the stems for a vase when my boyfriend accidentally pricked his finger. As I looked closely at the rose in my own hand, I discovered tiny, razor-sharp thorns sticking out from the stem.
Why would God place painful thorns on a lovely flower?
A few days later, a friend brought up the rose's thorn as a metaphor when I asked for prayer. I shared that living alone during Covid felt like a spiritual retreat. I had grown in spiritual knowledge, encountered the heart of God, and heard from Holy Spirit more clearly than ever before. But then I was taken out of my new comfort zone. When my bubble burst, it was as if someone poked a hole in my helium balloon of joy and patience, which were quickly escaping. My heart and mouth, once filled with praise, harbored complaints. I kept doing things that, as Paul put it, I did not want to do (Romans 7:15). And I wanted God to make me better.
"It's your thorn in the flesh," my friend replied at the end of my confession. My eyes widened as I recalled the writings of Paul and his experience with the thorn in the flesh.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7-8:
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
My friend remarked, "The thorn is our flaws. Without our flaws--if we are perfect and complete--we won't think we need God!"
I don't know exactly what Paul was referring to as his thorn, but the thorn pointedly exposed Paul's weakness and was a hindrance he could not remove. Perhaps like Paul, I have pleaded with God to remove flaws that hinder, or limit, my ability to perfectly love God and others... and also to deliver me from all pitfalls and mistakes and pain. It's like praying, "God, please remove whatever is in the way of a painless and perfect life. In Jesus' name, amen." As if Jesus would pray that prayer!
Paul doesn't reveal his thorn, but I believe the thorn is, broadly, sin. Sin which rendered God's creation broken and birthed grief and death. Sin which crucified Jesus Christ.
When sin entered the world and infected all mankind, God did not remove sin. God did not wipe mankind from the face of the earth and start over. Instead, God chose to allow sin and promised to send His son to defeat it. God prophesied that the Son of Man would crush Satan and his works (Genesis 3:15; 1 John 3:8).
Since the beginning, God didn't remove the thorn of sin. He extended unmerited, unearned, undeserved grace by sacrificing His one and only son. "My grace is sufficient for you."
Even Jesus, who knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and had no flaw, asked the Father to remove the thorn...like Paul, three times. But our Lord also prayed three times for God's will.
Jesus "fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.' ... Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, 'My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.' ... he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again." --Matthew 26: 39-44
Because God did not remove Jesus' thorn, we are saved, healed, delivered, and free!
We can trust that if God does not remove our thorn, He has something greater in mind. God's response to Paul that His grace is sufficient meant that to remove the thorn would not be sufficient. We forget in the midst of pain that we don't need our circumstances to change. We forget what we need is God. Through Christ, we overcome suffering. "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).
My sister/brother, God doesn't remove the thorn... because He wants to give you a crown.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. -James 1:12
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. -2 Timothy 4:8
In a way, Jesus' crucifixion was a crowning ceremony on earth. Jesus was crowned with thorns in the flesh: "And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying 'Hail, King of the Jews!'" (Matthew 27:29). It was through obedience to the point of death that Jesus fulfilled the Father's will and was glorified. Victorious over sin, the resurrected Christ declared all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him (Matthew 28:18).
The crown of mockery became a crown of glory.
Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. -Revelation 14:14
When Jesus returns, He will have another crowning ceremony on earth--and we will be in attendance.
...the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." -Revelation 4:10-11
We will cast our crowns before the Worthy Lamb of God who reigns forever.
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