A Thorn In My Flesh

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

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

We can all become too dependent on our ways of thinking, about what we have or do not have.

We can look for and grow a new crop, which will diversify us, and will lead to our increased prosperity.

Sometimes we face financial, emotional, or physical hardships, and it is frightening. We witness the end of life as we know it. The loss of what is old is an opportunity to discover something new.

God may use hardship to get us to give up a bad habit or lean a new virtue. He used a thorn in Paul’s flesh to teach him about grace.

Instead of striving to preserve old habits that are no longer effective, we can view every hardship as an opportunity for God to cultivate a new virtue in us.

God often uses bitter experiences to make us better.

Our Daily Bread – September 28, 2014