Some thorny issues

I’ve already started pruning my roses and pulled out the first thorn that wiggled through my leather work gloves. Right now, my rose bushes are ugly-- just bare, blackened thorny canes. But I think ahead to May when those first blooms come.

One positive of this time-consuming, thorny task is time to think, and I often mull over Paul’s discussion in 2 Corinthians 12:7 about his “thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me.” The Greek word translated “thorn” refers to anything pointed, even a stake or goad. That for “buffet” (“torment” in the NIV) is from a Greek word that signifies “to strike with clenched hands, to buffet with the fist” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary, p. 156). This wasn’t a little poke, like I got with my rose thorns. It was Satan’s all-out harassment. For unknown reasons, God turned down Paul’s repeated pleas to take it away.

We don’t know what Paul’s “thorn” actually was, and that’s probably good. That way, our difficulties or “thorns” can find the same hope as Paul did: “But he [the Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” With that as God’s answer, Paul responded, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (v. 9).

One precious detail is lost in the English translations of the phrase “may rest.” In the original Greek, the root word used here for “may rest” is episkenoo. It comes from epi (upon) and skene (skin/tent). Remember that tents of Paul’s day weren’t the canvas or nylon ones we have today. They were made of a cloth woven from goat's hair or from animal hides, and Paul as a tent-maker stitched together countless ones. Remember, too, that animal hides were used for the tented tabernacle, the traveling worship center for the Israelites after they fled Egypt. Exodus 26 says the outer covering of the tabernacle was made of ram skins dyed red and then a covering of the hides of what some translations call “sea cows.” The Hebrew is a bit obscure, but most scholars believe it refers to porpoises or a similar sea mammal.

Pulling it all together, I believe Paul is indicating that this relentless “thorn” gave him a greater sense of Christ’s work in his life—as though Christ were casting a tent over him and turning this weakness into a place of worship. The Lord does this through the inexplicable ministry of His Spirit within out hearts, directing, assuring and comforting us. He also uses the encouragement of scriptures and the ministry of others encouraging us through kind words, practical help, and prayerful support.

If you’re suffering with a “thorn” right now, I hope this little study encouraged you. And I’ll end it with a song, one I learned while serving with an international mission group. Use the tune of “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds”:
As thy day so shall thy strength be.

My grace is sufficient for thee.
My power is made perfect in thy human weakness,
My grace is sufficient for thee.