“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 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 12:7-9).

I don’t like this text. And, I’m pretty sure you’re not going to like this text either.

I don’t like this text. I don’t like this text because when I pray I want God to answer my prayers in the way I want them answered.

I don’t like this text. I don’t like this text because it tells me that sometimes God answers with a straight out “Nope.”

I don’t like this text. I don’t like this text because, not only does God say “Nope,” God says I am going to keep the pain that’s paining you ongoing.

What? What’s that about? Why would God want me to continue being in pain?!?! Doesn’t God care?

Listen. Sometimes God answers our prayers not with the relief we were seeking, but with his grace and strength for us to endure the pain.

I don’t want that! But God does. You know why?

Because God is more interested in our growth and maturity than he is in our comfort.
Because there are certain lessons that can only be learned as we go through a season of discomfort.
Because there are certain truths that we can only come to understand when we recognize our weakness.

I don’t like this text. But I thank God for his genuine desire for what is best for me…and aren’t you glad that this is his desire for you?

Picture yourself as a farmer in the Near East, far from any lake or stream. A few wells keep the family and animals supplied with water. But if the crops are to grow and the family is to be fed from month to month, water has to come on the fields from another source. From where?

Well, the sky. The sky? Water will come out of the clear blue sky? Well, not exactly. Water will have to be carried in the sky from the Mediterranean Sea, over several hundred miles and then be poured out from the sky onto the fields. Carried? How much does it weigh? Well, if one inch of rain falls on one square mile of farmland during the night, that would be 27,878,400 cubic feet of water, which is 206,300,160 gallons, which is 1,650,501,280 pounds of water.

That’s so heavy. So how does it get up in the sky and stay up there if it’s so heavy? Well, it gets up there by evaporation. Really? That’s a nice word. What’s it mean? It means that the water sort of stops being water for a while so it can go up and not down. I see. Then how does it get down? Well, condensation happens. What’s that? The water starts becoming water again by gathering around little dust particles between .00001 and .0001 centimeters wide. That’s small.

What about the salt? Salt? Yes, the Mediterranean Sea is salt water. That would kill the crops. What about the salt? Well, the salt has to be taken out. Oh. So the sky picks up billions of pounds of water from the sea and takes out the salt and then carries it for three hundred miles and then dumps it on the farm?

Well, it doesn’t dump it. If it dumped a billion pounds of water on the farm, the wheat would be crushed. So the sky dribbles the billion pounds of water down in little drops…

God is good.

Remember to give God thanks.

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19).

Daughter: “Daddy, should I marry him?”
Dad:”What does your heart say?”

Son: “Mom, should I take this job?”
Mom: “What does your heart say?”

Do what your heart says…

Gee.

Horrendous advice. The heart is a terrible guide. Listen to what Jesus says about the heart. The heart is the originator of murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. There is nothing good about any of these things. These are terrible things.

And, yet, it gets worse.

You see, the New Testament didn’t have the linguistic tool, “etc.” In order to specify etcetera, the Greeks would list similar words together. It was assumed by the reader that the listing of similar things implied that the list goes on with other similar things.

So, imagine everything bad. Everything sinful. Everything terrible. Everything that destroys.

That’s the heart. The heart is the author and the generator of all such evil. So, do you really think it would be a good idea for anyone to do what their heart tells them to do?

Absolutely not. Lean on God. Trust God’s word. Obey him.