2 Corinthians Chapter 12 – A Renewed Perspective of Problems

I find it intriguing that Paul refers to his God-given pain as a “thorn”, such a tiny, seemingly insignificant object. When I take a step back and think about what situations in my life are challenging, I don’t think “tiny” comes to mind.

(In some of these situations, I’d rather dramatically imagine it feels like having my foot crushed by a bag of bricks instead.)

If I were to think of my life through the Bible, the image of a thorn Paul uses here reminds me of something quite contrary. 

However painful its prick, in the grand scheme of things, a thorn is so small. Earlier in 2 Corinthians, Paul described tribulation as being “light momentary affliction”, and even “transient”. These are spoken of in contrast to the “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” ((2 Corinthians 4:17, 18). 

What can we see? Paul’s trial was just a thorn—small yet a painful prick, yet still small—because he set his eyes on his God and his eternal heavenly home. 

Essentially, we need eyes of faith.

In this regard, Paul exemplifies his resolute trust in God. It amazes me that despite his frustrations and pain, Paul only asked the Lord to remove his trial three times (2 Corinthians 12:8).

Despite having some inkling that God has placed me in certain places for my good, for some of these, I’ve found myself praying for God to remove me from those situations for (even three or more) years! 

2 Corinthians 12 shows me how Paul accepted God’s will for him so readily. 

1. Paul heard God’s loving words and internalized them.

The Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Paul’s immediate conclusion from hearing these? It wasn’t to strive and find his own way out of his difficult situation. Rather, Paul acted on God’s gentle reminder and made the decision to rely on God’s loving grace, and seek His power. 

Sometimes after hearing a sermon that speaks to my heart about a trial I’m undergoing, my prayer is still filled with doubts and worries—like I hadn’t heard God at all! Changing my prayer based on what I hear in a sermon is one actionable thing I can do to be more like Paul in this respect.

2. Paul saw problems as a place to meet God.

So keen was Paul to experience God helping him, that he was willing to put up with more weaknesses, hardships, and calamities (2 Corinthians 12:10). 

This reminds me of a sister I met abroad who was praying for her teenagers to encounter more problems. I was shocked to hear this, but she explained that problems would help her teens experience and understand the Lord’s grace more. Their lives thus far were very smooth sailing. Their faiths, as a result, were rather superficial as they had few experiences with God and still did not understand Him as their personal Saviour.

I was touched that the sister had such a biblical perspective of problems. I thought that I could work on changing my perspective – to see problems as a way to meet God and have His power rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:9).

3. Paul had faith in God’s goodness. 

Trusting that God allowed him to experience the thorn out of love, Paul saw that the thorn helped him not be proud. Since pride comes before destruction, it would have put his ministry and salvation at risk (Proverbs 16:18, 2 Corinthians 12:7).

In times of trial, having deep communion with God in the Spirit can offer us an opportunity to understand, through the Spirit’s guidance, what God’s good purpose for us through the trial is. 

And if it is not God’s will for us to understand, just as Job did not know the reason for his sufferings while enduring them, a prayer that seeks to trust, rather than complain, can still help us gain spiritual strength (Ephesians 3:16).

A closing reflection for us:

For a trial that I’m currently enduring, how can I change my prayer and fill it with God’s message to me from 2 Corinthians 12?

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