We have roses growing out front. The thorns are small, but they still hurt, yet they aren’t taking over the pretty petals or fragrance. The bush continues to mature and thrive while the thorns remain.

A thorn is a thorn. We all have thorns for various reasons. Sometimes those thorns are short or long term trials, aches or pains; they can be any kind of affliction coming at us from any direction or source. But God gives us grace; He helps us endure those pains, those trials. Our thorns are seen as a detriment, but they aren’t in the whole of life. They can be a nuisance, and it may take time to understand their value, but God intends them for a reason.

Years ago I had a thorn.  The pain was in my leg and was pretty much constant; it was more constant than it wasn’t.  I would have brief periods when the pain wasn’t as intense, but it was always a constant.   My husband told me he would hear me groan in my sleep; and I remember waking up a several times in tears.  The pain certainly interrupted my quality of sleep.  I’m fairly pain tolerant, but I will admit it wasn’t just annoying, it was rotten at times.  After a couple years, I finally decided to go to the doctor.  He said he didn’t think it was Sciatica, or a disc issue, although no x-rays were taken, nor other tests performed.  I was told I’d just have to deal with the pain and limp.  Motrin or Advil helped relieve some pain, but not entirely.  I’m not one for taking long term pain killers, so the prescribed medication wasn’t an option.

Other than Motrin or Advil, I tried a couple things, one of which were magnets, to help relieve my leg pain.  Amazingly, they worked.  When a friend suggested I try the magnets, I was skeptical.  I hadn’t heard of using magnets for healing, and I figured the doctors would have suggested them had they known of their aided healing or helpfulness.  I gave them a try and they worked.  The pain I had been experiencing roughly six years was subsiding, and I almost couldn’t believe it.  I wore those magnets day and night for about a year.  I hardly ever experience that pain now.  I’m thankful for the relief; but I also remember how I just used to cope with it.  When the pain first started, I admit I didn’t initially think about Paul and his thorn.  As the days, weeks and months passed, I sure thought of Paul; I thought of other people who still have pain.   I thought that if other people could endure some pain, so could I.  Even though that particular pain has eased, no doubt I’ll have other pains, if not due to life’s events, then due to the aging process.

Adam dealt with thorns. God tells Adam why he’ll deal with thorns in Genesis 3:17-19.

Paul asked God three times to remove his thorn, but God left it. God told Paul His grace was sufficient (2 Cor. 12:5-10).

Charles Spurgeon endured many thorns and trials in his life such as chronic pain and more; and his wife was afflicted beyond being able to care for herself.  But Spurgeon’s thorns didn’t overtake his life; he came to see those thorns as blessings, not curses.  Charles Spurgeon said many things relating to his thorns and trials, here are two:

“I dare say the greatest earthly blessing that God can give to any of us is health, with the exception of sickness.”

“I’m afraid that all the grace that I have received from my comfortable and easy times and happy hours might almost lie on a penny, but the good that I have received from my sorrows, my pains and my griefs, is altogether incalculable.”

There are so many other people who come to mind, like Joni Eareckson Tada.  A diving accident left her a quadriplegic in a wheelchair.  She’s shared a lot about that accident, and her frustrations in dealing with her physical impairment; but also how God has used her. Joni paints with her mouth, she sings, she’s authored numerous books and is a spokesperson for the disabled.

I don’t know anyone who enjoys or looks forward to the next thorn;  I sure don’t.  But, what I do hope for within myself is reflection on that painful thorn in my leg, resulting in growth and maturity in the Lord the next time I get poked by a thorn.  We can pray to have a thorn removed, but whether God removes it or not, the result goes back to Him.  Christ wore a painful crown of thorns as He was mocked (Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:16-20). In having a relationship with Jesus, we can look forward to the day when all thorns are gone, for good. Until that time, God gives grace to endure the thorns as we live humbly before Him. Humility is key: It’s God’s strength that’s made perfect through our weaknesses. It goes back to God. It’s not about us.

Earnestly,

Yours