Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. - 2 Corinthians 12:7b-8

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 18, 2018): 2 Corinthians 12 & 13

Fantasy writer Anne McCaffrey writes in Dragonsinger, “there's something wrong in not appreciating one's own special abilities, my girl. Find your own limitations, yes, but don't limit yourself with false modesty.” How we learn to deal with limitations is an interesting study. I know of some who let their limitations define them, they never venture outside of their boundaries. For others, these borders are challenges that they will somehow find a way to break through and do what others say can’t be done. If I have a choice, I want to be boundary breaker; I never want to allow my limitations to define me. And then there are those who McCaffrey describes, who maintain limitations where none actually exist; a false modesty that stops someone from doing what might be done.

Paul admits that he has limitations and they are very real. That, in itself, is probably not surprising. We all have places where it is harder for us to act because of something inside of us that inhibits us. For me, my limitations are health-related. I am a severe asthmatic with severe allergies. That meant that, as a child, I was often on the outside of things. Even recess could be present a real challenge to my health.  I had to fight hard to even just play. We have no idea what Paul’s limitation was, what he calls it his “thorn in the flesh.” But that hasn’t stopped us from trying to figure out what it was that caused Paul’s suffering. A number of possibilities have been raised that have ranged from various sicknesses to sin issues in his life. Some have even wondered if Paul was same-sex attracted in a world where that simply was not an option for a believer in God. But for me, some of the most plausible “thorns” relate to the reason why this letter was written in the first place. The Corinthians were bothered because Paul was a physically unimpressive man who possibly had trouble speaking. Maybe Paul was a stutterer and had trouble verbalizing his ideas. Can you imagine the frustration of having so much to say, and yet being unable to get the words out of your mouth? I can imagine the nights spent in prayer, agonizing over meeting with a group of people and asking God to help him speak clearly – to allow him to speak the way that he wrote. Paul calls his thorn a messenger from Satan, which is what fuels the argument that his thorn had something to do with sin, but it could also be that his inability to speak hindered the preaching of the Gospel, something that Satan would most definitely want to do.

According to Paul, he prayed three times asking God to remove his limitation, that God would stand between him and whatever it was that he felt Satan had brought upon him, and three times God said no. But Paul was not about to allow himself to be defined by the limitation, but rather to work through it, breaking through the barrier that his “thorn” had brought into his life, and allow God to be glorified, even in the midst of his weakness.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Acts 21