The Thorn That Remained

“J besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me.’’ — 2 Cor. xii. 8.

Was the prayer answered? The Apostle was troubled by some physical ailment which drained his strength and seemed to interfere with the fruitfulness of his work. It was like a thorn in the flesh, it continually obtruded itself and mixed its pain with everything. And he prayed that God would remove the thorn, but the thorn remained. — Shall we then say that the prayer was unanswered? Was the Lord heedless? Might the Apostle just as well have saved his breath? Quite other is the teaching of the Word. The unremoved thorn does not mean the unanswered prayer. God most certainly answered the prayer, but in quite another way than the Apostle dreamed. There was not less thorn, but more grace. The burden was not reduced, but the sufferer was endowed with more power. ‘ My grace is sufficient for thee.”’

Here is a motor-car somewhat burdened and gasping at the difficult hill. There are two ways of dealing with it. We can either lighten its load by removing part of the burden, or we can lighten its load by increasing its strength. We more than halve the hill when we double the engine power. And that is the way in which many of our prayers are answered. The answer comes - not in the removal of the difficulty but in the increase of our dynamic. ‘“Ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Many young Christians are bewildered to find that temptations remain even when they have begun to follow the Lord. They prayed that the temptation might be removed, or that it might no longer frown upon them as they went along the way. And yet, there it is, towering before them as they go to their work, menacing them while they are at their work, and accompanying them on their return. If only the Lord would remove all our enemies! But that is not always His way. Many times the foes remain, but the answer is found in a table prepared “In the midst of our enemies.” He gives us hidden manna, and the surrounding enemy glares at us in impotence.

And just because the difficulty and the burden remain, what an opportunity this offers for powerful witnessing. If the Lord removed all our thorns, if Christian believers

SE NESE eer Otere ies
88 The Thorn that Remained

had no temptations, no troubles, no difficult hills, what a poor, anemic witness we should offer to the world! We should present a character that was faced by no enemy. We should present a life that was grappling with no problem. We should present. victories without struggle! Is it not something infinitely more impressive to see a man with a thorn limping along the road with a superb spirit? Is there not something captivating in the sight of a man or woman burdened with many tribulations and yet carrying a heart as sound as a bell? Is there not something contagiously valorous in the vision of one who is greatly tempted but is more than conqueror? Is it not heartening to see some pilgrim who is broken in body but who retains the splendour of an unbroken patience? What a witness all this offers to the endurement of God’s grace! There is the man’s thorn! And we are made to wonder how he bears it so well. What is his secret? Or here is a woman who has heaps of trouble; where does she get her mysterious oil which enables her spirit to burn and shine so radiantly? And those who ask such questions are led to her secret and they are brought into the presence of the Lord. And so the thorn remains in order that we may unveil the Lord. The very thorn becomes the revealer of the keeping grace of our God. “This sickness was not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of Man may be glorified.”