In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, we have the account of Paul and his “thorn in the flesh.” Paul was sharing a message about his conversion and the privilege he had to be used for the Lord’s purposes. The thorn was a way to keep him from thinking more highly of himself than anyone else.
The thorn kept Paul from being proud—and a few other things. The scripture says Paul asked the Lord three times to remove the thorn from his body. Whatever it was, the thorn bothered Paul so much that he asked the Lord to remove it.
According to Paul, “And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) In short, Jesus said to Paul, “No. ” The Lord refused to remove Paul’s thorn. I don’t know about you, but when I go to the Lord asking for something, I am always looking for Him to say, “Yes.”
What should be our response when the Lord says no to us? Well, there are several things the Lord taught us in how He responded to Paul.
First, we need to understand that we cannot live our lives without the presence and the active play of grace. Not all of life will be easy going for us. Not all of life will be full of good for us. We need the grace of the Lord to get through life in the way we should.
Whether difficult or easy, whether good or bad, we need the grace of the Lord to learn how to live with it all. Grace helps us to learn to face each day with humility and with the understanding that we need the favor of the Lord to get through our tough times and our good times so that we do not come to rely on our own strength.
Jesus also taught us that our strength is just enough to keep us in our weaknesses. How is this so? Because our strength is imperfect. It can only help us deal with something weaker than we are. Life will throw at us many things that are greater than our strength. The Lord wants us to understand we need more than our own grit and determination to live free.
Finally, Jesus taught us that weaknesses and challenges are a natural part of life. Some of us may have more than others, but we all have our weaknesses, and we all have our challenges. Jesus says to us that His strength, which works in us in the form of His grace, is perfected in our weaknesses.
So, there are times when we ought to ask for more grace than more freedom because the more grace we have the stronger and more overcoming we become. We should ask for more patience than more freedom. The more patient we are the more understanding we become. And we should ask to be more forgiving, and we should ask for more forgiveness than more freedom from the need to forgive. The more we forgive the more blessed we are.
If you are being pressed on all sides today to give more at work than what you believe you should receive, give more! More grace will be poured into you and in your humility, you will be strengthened beyond the thing that is stronger.
Paul said he would rather boast in his infirmities so that the power of Christ might rest upon him. I am not so strong that I will boast about the things that challenge me, but I will do this. Knowing that sometimes the Lord will say no to my requests, I will look for the strength of His grace and His presence in all that I face.
I will do that because when He says no, I am reminded that when I am weakened by anything, I am strengthened by Him.
So, when He says no to you, perhaps it’s because your grace tank is almost empty or your humility tank is almost empty, or your thankfulness tank is almost empty. Whatever it is, be grateful that when He says no, He always has something better to offer that we didn’t ask for. He fills your tanks with something powerful!
When He says no, you can be sure He offers a way for you to be made stronger in and with whatever is your challenge. He may not remove your challenge, but He will always make a way for you to move on in strength and in power with your challenge in tow.
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