Soaring Above The Thorns
“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.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
The apostle Paul had a “thorn in his flesh” which was
frustrating to him and he had petitioned the Lord three times to take it away. The above is the answer from God to Paul’s
petition. Paul was content with that answer…
“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 12:10-11)
But I wonder how he could be content. Maybe it was because Paul was a student of
the Old Testament Scripture and found comfort in the words of Isaiah…
“Do
you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of
the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding
no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of
the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but
those who hope in the LORD will renew
their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow
weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah
40:28-31)
As I grow older, and the reality of my mortality sets in,
I realize that all I have to trust in is my "hope in the Lord" that just as He will not leave me in the grave, but will call me
and all my loved ones out, immortal and perfect, “to soar on wings like eagles” just as He did for our Lord Jesus Christ.