Have you ever wondered what
happened to Paul? He talked often about
a "thorn in his flesh" he had, something that made it difficult for him to write and
something that caused him much pain and emotional distress. It was his private burden that he prayed
continually for God to remove, but Paul shared that at some point he made peace
with his personal struggle.
“My strength is made perfect in
your weakness,” Paul quoted God telling him. (2 Cor. 12:9)
Paul had been through much
tragedy already, a shipwreck, prison, a poisonous rattlesnake bite, being stone
and left for dead. Could it be that Paul
was irrevocably injured in one of these escapades? What if the stoning damaged some nerves in his
body? It would make sense that Paul
wouldn’t walk away from every problem without some sort of injury or scar to
remind him of what he endured for Christ.
Maybe it was a test to see if Paul would still be a faithful servant
dedicated to writing those letters and preaching the gospel to others. Or it could be me just using my wild imagination.
Even though it was hard, Paul
persevered. He continued preaching the
word of God until he died, and he still followed God’s promptings to write to
his friends and fellow Christians in the churches he had started, even though a
psychical limitation kept him from writing.
Paul didn’t let any little obstacle stop him but persevered and thought
of a creative way to overcome it (asking someone else to dictate the letter to
him). It doesn’t matter how Paul got
hurt or what his personal problem was.
What was important is that Paul used his weakness through God’s help
instead of letting it take over him.
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