Sources of "Thorns"

The past three posts have explored pride, humility and the thorn as referred to in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Today we’ll look further at satan’s role in our lives plus glance at other possible sources for our thorn.
A glance at satan: his first appearance in Scripture is Genesis 3 where he craftily leads Eve from her God-focus to a self indulgence.

We view him in the book of Job, where he takes everything from Job except his life. (We learn there though that satan is on the end of God’s leash. God allowed satan to destroy only up to a point. Satan’s involvement in the Christian’s life has to have God’s approval.)

The next big exposure was satan’s temptation of Christ as seen in Mathew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. It’s as if God was saying to satan, “Here’s My Man. Have at Him. I’m actually leading Him into a place of temptation. Get a taste of what your competition is like. You’re powerful, but you’re no match for the Messiah.” And, of course, we see that Christ not only won that three-pronged temptation battle, but ultimately Colossians 2:15 tells us that “having disarmed the powers and authorities,(satan) he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Satan, powerful, but a defeated foe, as we walk intimately with the Father.

Back to 2 Cor.12: Here he is portrayed as God's instrument in preparing Paul for effective service. This is not to say that he becomes a willing instrument for good. Satan intends the thorn for Paul's destruction. But God, who has ultimate control over the situation, intends it for Paul's good.

Satan is not the only source for a thorn. You and I can be also. Our own bad choices can lead to severe prickly thorns. For example, a client I once counseled presented with a very confused mind. This definitely affected his work. He was a medical doctor. His mental confusion thorn was a result of heavy pornographic indulgence. Porn addiction definitely affects the brain. Our unwise choices can lead to a self-induced thorn. Psalm one and Galatians five describe this phenomenon.
God could be the source of a thorn- for discipline’s sake. Hebrews 12 speaks to that issue. In John 9 we read of the man born blind – either caused or allowed by God, “That the works of God might be displayed in him.”
James 1:2-4 and Romans 5:3-5 implores us to observe life’s challenges, which could be seen as a thorn, as character building exercises.

Do you have a thorn? Mine is stuttering, Parkinson’s Disease and a relational issue. What is your thorn? What is the source of your thorn? It may be satan. Could be God. We live in a fallen world. As the bumper sticker proclaims, “Manure happens” – to the godly and the ungodly. The thorn source might just be a result of life’s circumstances (getting hit by a drunk driver.) Or, the thorn may be a result of our own bad choices.

No matter the source, how to handle a thorn is observed in tomorrow’s post.