The great apostle Paul was given a thorn in the flesh. He was gifted some sort of physical affliction that caused him such distress that he desperately desired it to leave him alone. He never tells us the nature of the thorn, just that it caused him great suffering.

The thorn in the flesh had a primary and secondary source. The secondary source was Satan. Paul calls the affliction “a messenger of Satan to harass me.” You may recall that Job also suffered many thorns in the flesh, which were many “messengers of Satan” to harass him. Scripture tells us that during the reign of King David, Satan even filled David’s heart with a desire to disobey God.

That last one kind of presents us with a problem. The disobedience of God by King David was recorded in two different Bible books. One says Satan incited David, and the other says that God incited David.

The same sort of cause happens in the case of Job. Satan causes Job to suffer thorns in the flesh, but only because God suggested Job to be a good candidate for such affliction.

And the same sort of cause occurs in the case of Paul in our reading today. He says, “A thorn was given me in the flesh.” He uses a passive verb. Something was done to Paul. But by whom? We might think Satan, but no subject is offered. In the Bible, when a passive verb is used and the subject of the verb isn’t identified, almost all of the time that means it is God. 

If you’ve never heard this before, it might be shocking and maybe even unnerving to learn that God is the primary source of David’s disobedience, Job’s suffering, and Paul’s thorn. You see, we are tempted to defend God’s name and honor against such accusations. But if God is going to be God, it must be so. If Satan or anyone else had a power that wasn’t under God’s ultimate control—such as Paul’s thorn in the flesh—then that would mean that God isn’t God, because it would mean that God doesn’t not have authority over all creation.

God is in the ultimate control of all things. Nothing happens without His allowing it to happen. The disobedient census that David took by Satan’s incitement wouldn’t have happened unless God allowed it. The tremendous suffering that Job experienced wouldn’t have happened unless God allowed it. The thorn in the flesh that Paul suffered wouldn’t have happened unless God allowed it. I look out at this congregation and I am familiar with many of your sufferings, trials, and afflictions. These “thorns in the flesh” wouldn’t happen unless God allows it.

That can be very hard to hear, but it must be true. The reformer Martin Luther once called the devil “God’s devil.” That means the devil can only do what God allows him to do, for the devil really doesn’t have more power than God. The devil may be powerful, but he’s a creature. The Lord God of heaven and earth is always in control. What at first seems unnerving, becomes a great comfort for God’s children.

So, why does God allow His children to suffer “thorns in the flesh,” even at the hand of Satan? In the case of Paul, it was to keep the great apostle humble. Fourteen years earlier, he went to the third heaven. What does that mean? The first heaven is the sky where the birds fly. The second heaven is the universe filled with stars and planets. The third heaven is paradise. He heard and saw things that he couldn’t repeat—things that blessed him tremendously and probably helped to sustain him during the challenges of preaching the Good News of Jesus in a hostile world.

But the Lord also knew Paul better than Paul knew himself. So, the Lord used Satan to give Paul the gift of a “thorn in the flesh” to “harass” him. The thorn in the flesh kept Paul humble so that he didn’t boast of how awesome he was that he got to see things that others didn’t get to see—like the paradise of the heavenly kingdom.

Paul didn’t want the thorn. Scripture says that no discipline seems pleasant when it’s happening, but it produces the harvest of righteousness. Even though Paul didn’t want it (praying three times that it be taken away), God knew that Paul needed this thorn for the continued strengthening of his faith. The Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” What a blessed promise for anyone undergoing “thorns in the flesh.”

But not all affliction has to do with keeping God’s children humble. The Lord allowed Satan to incite King David to sin, because of Israel’s disobedience as a nation. God used David’s sin as punishment for Israel’s sinful rebellion against the Lord. Sometimes the Lord uses affliction—even sin—to be a consequence of other sin, with the goal of repentance.

Job’s “thorn in the flesh” had to do with the Lord God proving that Job is a child of God. Satan challenged God, saying that Job only fears, loves, and trusts God because God has blessed him so much in this life. God accepted the challenge. Ultimately, Satan is permitted to do what he wants to Job except kill him. God strengthened Job throughout his weakness to endure in the faith to the end. While Job certainly sinned along the way, the Lord God fixed Job’s eyes on his Redeemer Jesus.

Job never really knew why he suffered “thorns in the flesh” and most of the time, God’s children never know the “complete” reason for suffering. What we can hold onto as a precious promise is the Lord’s assurance that “all things work together for the good of those who love Him.” God works all things for those who have been claimed by Him in the blessed waters of Holy Baptism. That’s a gift no one can take away.

There’s a lot of “thorns in the flesh” being suffered by this congregation. How can the family that is Emmanuel Lutheran endure such thorns? By God’s “sufficient grace.” We have a Lord who knows and understands what we suffer, because He endured it. He endured the instigation of Satan. He endured the suffering of the cross. He endured death. He endured to the end and came out victorious. Because He endured and is victorious, the power of Christ rests both upon Paul and upon you so that like Paul, you endure to the end by God’s grace.

Despite the many “thorns in the flesh” suffered by God’s people in this life, we find comfort and hope in the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.