What If God Said No?

What do you do when you pray, and God doesn’t take the pain away?

In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul begs God three times to remove a mysterious “thorn in the flesh.” Instead of removing it, God answers with words that have echoed through centuries of faith: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

In this episode of Bible, Basically, we step into another one of the most honest moments in Scripture and wrestle with a hard truth: sometimes God doesn’t remove the struggle. Sometimes He meets us right in the middle of it.

Bible, Basically — figuring out faith, together.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of Bible basically finding our faith together. Yeah, I was praying a lot this week about what to talk about, trying to figure out something. And actually, a while back, my nephew of all people, who is awesome, he actually gave me a suggestion on 2nd Corinthians verse 10. And we'll get into it, what it says, and and what we're talking about. But I started reading the entire book of 2nd Corinthians, and forgive me, 2nd Corinthians 12, verse 10, specifically. And I started reading that entire book, and I got to that chapter, and really that whole chapter is pretty amazing as to what it talks about. And and basically that's what we're going to talk about today. If you think about it this way. Have you ever prayed for something to go away? And it didn't. Something that you're going through at the time, some sort of struggle, some sort of weakness. And you prayed, God, please just take this away. And it didn't go away. And you didn't just pray once, you didn't just pray twice, but over and over again, the same struggle, the same weakness, the same thorn that just won't leave. You ask God to take it. And you ask again. And the answer isn't silence. It's no. Today we're stepping into a moment in scripture where one of the strongest men of faith in the New Testament discovers something unexpected. And that's that sometimes God doesn't remove the weakness. Sometimes He meets us inside it. Second Corinthians twelve verses one through ten. Second Corinthians twelve verses one through ten. Paul is the guy that we're talking about here, okay? And Paul, if you look throughout the New Testament, Paul writes a lot of letters to a lot of different churches. And in a lot of these letters, he is giving the churches advice that pertain to their struggles directly or giving them kudos for things that they do well. This is the second letter to the Corinthians that he wrote, or sometimes referred to as the second epistle to the Corinthians. And he starts off, I mean, pretty plainly. I want to read the whole thing together, and then we can kind of dissect and and and pick a few things out and pick a few things apart. So when we look 2 Corinthians 12, 1 through 10. I must go on boasting. Though there's nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up in the third heaven. Whether in body or out of the body, I don't know. God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise. Once again, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. God knows. And he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast except of my weaknesses. Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth, but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Paul didn't put any pull any punches on this one, man.

unknown 7:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

First thing he describes is being caught up in the third heaven. Okay. Now I'm not going to get into the exactness of what that is. I read a lot of notes, study notes on it, and it's speculated that it is in the presence of God, that it's like the ultimate level, right? Uh the final boss, so to speak. So he's basically saying, look, I knew a guy, hint hint me, who was given divine revelations, and I had a vision, right? But here's the thing, here's the important part. He's not bragging about those spiritual experiences. He's not. He refuses to. He doesn't want to brag about it. That's not the point of this story. Paul talked about a believer who had a vision of God. God showed the person things in this heavenly world. And then Paul told his readers that the believer was in fact himself. The false teachers and superapostles bragged about visions that they had. And they used to use their visions as proof that they were better than Paul. So Paul was simply saying, look, I could brag too if I wanted to. And if I did brag, I'd be right. But I'm not going to brag about that. I'm going to boast about my weakness. 12.5, he says, on behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast except of my weaknesses. The contrast is 100% intentional. He's basically saying, look, I've had these divine visions, I've had these divine revelations.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

And God illuminated me.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

And man, could I get a big head? If I wanted to, I could get a really big head about all this.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

But God put a thorn in him.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

He refers to it as a messenger of Satan sent to harass him. Right? Now we don't know what the thorn was. It could have been physical illness, it could have been persecution, could have been spiritual torment. The mystery is intentional. He's vague on purpose. If you think about it, if the Bible named exactly what it was, it would completely limit the lesson, right? The thorn in this revelation represents anything that is persistent that humbles us.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Anything that knocks us down a peg or two or three.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

And some of us, for a lot of us, myself included, that's adversity, right? That's some sort of moment or multiple moments or things that you have done in your life that you are not proud of, that you are ashamed of, that you wish you could get rid of. I've talked about this on this show. My particular addiction was food. And I know a lot of people don't take that seriously. It was very serious to me. And it caused me a lot of strife.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Even in the height of my addiction, I would pray that God take it away. Come on, God, please.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Please, God, just I don't want to do this to myself anymore. I don't want to do this to myself anymore.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

And in those moments, nothing happened. I needed to go through the fire to harden my metal.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

He was forging the person that I was going to become. I don't know that I'm done being forged. I'm not going to say that, because I think that we are all work in progress, especially in the eyes of God. There's not one of us on this earth currently that is infallible.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Myself, especially. And Paul talks about one thorns. Boy, I got a bunch. I got a bunch. But those thorns keep me humble.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

And they have helped to forge who I am today and will continue to forge who I become tomorrow. And kind of like we learned with Job last week, look, it's normal to pray and wonder why and ask God to take things away. Paul says himself in Corinthians 12, 8 and 9, 2 Corinthians 12, 8, and 9. He says, Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

God Paul got the hint. He said, Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Your greatness is not going to be demonstrated by my strength. But rather, your greatness is going to be demonstrated by my weaknesses. Paul begged God three times to remove it, and he didn't.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Instead, he answered, My grace is sufficient for you.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Sometimes God removes the thorn, but sometimes he strengthens you through it.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

And that's what we need to learn from this. Your weakness is the biggest opportunity for you to demonstrate God's strength.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Your faith is the opportunity for you to take those weaknesses and show that God can deliver you. Not without your weaknesses, but in spite of them. In spite of those things that torment you.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Paul's conclusion is is is crazy. He's like he says he will boast in weakness. Why? Why is he boasting about his weakness? Because weakness exposes the place where God's power shows up.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Second Corinthians twelve ten specifically. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities, for when I am weak, then I am strong.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

I'm gonna pause here. How many of you out there feel like asking for help is a sign of weakness? Think about it. How many of you out there feel like asking for help is a sign of weakness? Because you can draw two parallels here. And I'm gonna take this in two separate directions.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

The first one is exactly what we talked about in 2 Corinthians twelve, the first ten verses, which is when you are weak, through him you'll be strong.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Right?

SPEAKER_00 18:33

If you're trying to be strong, if you're trying to be strong on your own, on your own, on your own, that strength, and I'm doing the air quotes thing, often hides dependence. That illusion of strength that you are trying to put up hides dependence. What's that famous verse say, Philippians 4.13? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It doesn't say I can do all things because I'm awesome. Oh, and by the way, the reason I'm awesome is because of God. No. It says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So, yes, during our weak times, he will give us the strength we need to push through, to carry on, to persevere so that that metal can be forged and hardened.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

But guys, there's another parallel. You don't just need to depend on God.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

You have brothers and sisters in Christ who are there to help you when you're down, who are there sometimes to physically lift you if you need to be lifted up. And that is another way that through Christ and through our fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can continue to remain strong. That's where our true strength comes from, not by singularly forging ahead in our lives alone and without assistance, but by depending on the Lord and depending on those that he sends to help us. Strength hides dependence, weakness reveals it. That's when we need him the most.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

And remember, we went back to Job. Job was in a moment of weakness. Job lost it all.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

And who came talking to him was his friends. Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweeting in his ear. Or were they tweeting the right things? Were they tripping the right things in his ear?

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Which is why I emphasize your brothers and sisters in Christ. Do not turn to the wicked for absolution. Turn to those of us who have been forgiven for our wickedness so that we can lift you up in his name and hold you up strong. I don't know what your thorns are. I don't know what you're going through. Your thorn might be anxiety. Check. Illness? Yep. Check. Grief? Yep. Check. Temptation? Yep. Check. Regret? Yep. Check. Whatever it is, it's something that won't go away. Some of us have all of those. And more. And God's not going to remove it immediately. Maybe if at all. But his grace will meet you inside of it. And lift you up.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

So maybe the goal of faith was never to become strong enough to stand on our own. Maybe the goal was to become honest enough to admit that we can't. That thorn may not disappear. That struggle may not vanish overnight. But God's grace doesn't wait for us to get stronger. It meets us right in the middle of our Weakness. And sometimes the very thing we begged God to remove becomes the place where his power shows up the clearest. So if you're carrying something today that feels like a thorn you can't pull out, remember this weakness isn't the end of your story. In God's hands, it might be the place where his strength finally becomes visible.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

Thank you guys for listening. This has been Bible basically, where we're figuring out faith together.