Good morning and Happy New Year! The year of our Lord 2018 is upon us. People often begin the new year making a new resolution for life. It is usually about the changes they would like to make to improve their life in some way: losing weight, exercising more, spending more time with the kids or with family, or spending more quality time with your wife or husband. Or perhaps it is aimed at spiritual improvement: more time in the Word of God, more time in prayer, establishing a consistent quiet time, or journaling your life experiences, especially as it relates to God's work in your life.
I'm not making a New Year's resolution, as I would rarely find myself following through. But I would like to begin the new year updating you on Barb's health, as well as my own. It has been just over a year (fourteen months as of January 4) since Barb received her liver transplant. On that front, all is well. Her liver is working perfectly, and she is regaining much of her ability to move around and do the things she used to do, even making all kinds of Christmas goodies!
This past year, however, she saw some setbacks. In the summer, a cancerous tumor was removed from her left lung. There is no further sign of cancer, so for now, she is cancer free! However, about six weeks after her lung surgery, Barb spent ten days in Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota with pnuemonia. She is now recovered from that bout, but she has swelling in her legs as the result of a blood clot in her pelvic area. She is doing well, but is on blood thinners and taking shots to breakup the blood clot. Continue to pray for her full recovery from everything. Thanks.
As for me, I am doing great! You are probably all aware that I have Parkinson's Disease. It can be a bit debilitating, but overall, I handle it well. I am able to walk and get around on my own, though I may be seen with a cane at times. Walking long distances is the hardest, but shopping carts make great walkers, and God bless the invention of motor powered shopping carts! I am still preaching full-time. In fact, I still stand to preach on Sunday mornings. I have not yet given in to the temptation to sit on a stool.
Overall, I am still quite healthy. My Parkinson's is considered mild. Others have it much worse than I do. There are many different forms of Parkinson's. Mine is a mild and manageable form. With medicine, my tremor is liveable, some days nearly non-existent. Overall, I do well.
That brings me to today's topic: living with a debilitating disease or any other struggle that God just never seems to take away no matter how many times you ask for God to heal or remove it. The text I want to look at is 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Here, Paul relates his struggle with "a thorn in the fleash" (2 Cor. 12:7) which was given to him:
"And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12:7-10)
Twice in verse seven, at the beginning and again at the end of the verse, Paul makes the statement, "Lest I (should) be exalted above measure." This puts this whole passage in perspective. Everything Paul says in this passage has to do with keeping him humble.
He follows that opening phrase with a qualification: "by the abundance of the revelations" (v. 7b). Paul's special place in God's overall scheme of things called for a bufferuing. The many "revelations" God gave him in writing much of the New Tetament set him up for temptation—temptation to think of himself more highly than he ought, "lest I be exalted above measure."
Likewise, the final repeated phrase is preceded by the words, "a messenger of Satan to buffet me" (v. 7d), again indicating that a buffering was called for. This also points out that the buffering God allowed came from Satan, not God. But the purpose, again, was to keep Paul humble.
But who or what is the "messenger" that buffets Paul, or what is it that Paul was dealing with? The answer is found in the middle of that verse: "a thorn in the flesh was given to me" (v. 7c). But just what was that "thorn in the flesh"? We don't really know! But that is probably a good thing, and is aopparently by design.
There are several things we know: (1) Paul's eyesight grew weak as he grew older, possibly because of writing in dark and dingy dungeons—"See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!" (Gal. 6:11); (2) Paul suffered many things while traveling the world in ministry—"...in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness" (2 Cor. 11:23b-27); and (3) when stoned he was left for dead—"But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead" (Acts 14:19). Yet none of these things necessarily have anything to do with Paul's "thorn in the flesh."
So what is it? Again, we don't know. What we do know is the result it had in Paul's life. Note verse 8: "Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me." He prayed for healing or deliverance, but it did not come. Why not? Certainly not for lack of faith on Paul's part. Rather, God said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (v. 9a). It was God's plan for Paul, to keep him humble.
Paul's response: "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (vs. 9b-10). The very result God was after in Paul's life—serving the Lord in all humility, keeping in focus how God makes him strong when he is weak.
For me, Parkinson's is my "thorn in the flesh." It reminds me daily that God makes me strong when I am weak. In that I will boast. In like manner, whatever God allows to buffet you, your "thorn in the fleah," must have that same result in you. As Paul said, "For when I am weak, then I am strong" (v. 10b). Amen.
He follows that opening phrase with a qualification: "by the abundance of the revelations" (v. 7b). Paul's special place in God's overall scheme of things called for a bufferuing. The many "revelations" God gave him in writing much of the New Tetament set him up for temptation—temptation to think of himself more highly than he ought, "lest I be exalted above measure."
Likewise, the final repeated phrase is preceded by the words, "a messenger of Satan to buffet me" (v. 7d), again indicating that a buffering was called for. This also points out that the buffering God allowed came from Satan, not God. But the purpose, again, was to keep Paul humble.
But who or what is the "messenger" that buffets Paul, or what is it that Paul was dealing with? The answer is found in the middle of that verse: "a thorn in the flesh was given to me" (v. 7c). But just what was that "thorn in the flesh"? We don't really know! But that is probably a good thing, and is aopparently by design.
There are several things we know: (1) Paul's eyesight grew weak as he grew older, possibly because of writing in dark and dingy dungeons—"See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!" (Gal. 6:11); (2) Paul suffered many things while traveling the world in ministry—"...in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness" (2 Cor. 11:23b-27); and (3) when stoned he was left for dead—"But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead" (Acts 14:19). Yet none of these things necessarily have anything to do with Paul's "thorn in the flesh."
So what is it? Again, we don't know. What we do know is the result it had in Paul's life. Note verse 8: "Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me." He prayed for healing or deliverance, but it did not come. Why not? Certainly not for lack of faith on Paul's part. Rather, God said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (v. 9a). It was God's plan for Paul, to keep him humble.
Paul's response: "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (vs. 9b-10). The very result God was after in Paul's life—serving the Lord in all humility, keeping in focus how God makes him strong when he is weak.
For me, Parkinson's is my "thorn in the flesh." It reminds me daily that God makes me strong when I am weak. In that I will boast. In like manner, whatever God allows to buffet you, your "thorn in the fleah," must have that same result in you. As Paul said, "For when I am weak, then I am strong" (v. 10b). Amen.
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