As I was looking at a major struggle in my life the passage of scripture that talks about the thorn in the flesh came to mind.
2 Corinthians 12:7 (KJV) And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.There are all kinds of applications to this. We tend to often exaggerate the difficulties we face. But there are some which qualify as thorns in the flesh.
Whenever I think about thorns in the flesh and how they fester and cause ongoing pain and discomfort my mind turns to the blessings of my life. In spite of the thorns, blessings are still there. I thought of those mornings years ago on my way to prepare for my day, stumbling into the walls, heading for the kitchen to turn on the coffee and asking myself, why am I doing this? On the way I would have to go by the doors to my children’s bedrooms. That would remind me why I would do this.
That made me think of how my children presented their own difficulties. I don’t know how many times I shook my head about the way my children are acting. I know I frequently threatened to take my son back to the hospital and get a refund. Fortunately I never acted on it.
There is a big difference between a thorn in the flesh and a pain in the neck. I know people who are not happy about how their children have turned out so far. They have become a thorn. If all goes well they are really only a pain in the neck which goes away in time. When we are in pain we tend to focus on it and magnify it out of proportion. Afterward it doesn’t seem so bad.
A thorn is a problem that needs to be removed. If it is so deep that it can’t be removed it needs to be endured. Dare I utter the phrase, “It builds character”? A pain is a warning that there is a problem. A pain in the neck could be anything from cancer to just sleeping wrong.
Maybe we could make up a little sign that reminds us of the difference between a thorn and a pain. THORN OR PAIN?
I hope that I am never a thorn and can keep from inflicting pain.
homo unius libri
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.