"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)
I’ve also been thinking about the story
about the lion that had a thistle in his paw…
How about you? Is there anything in your life that has been
a “thistle”? I have one… Oh yes… And as many times that I have desperately prayed
that God would remove it, there it remains…
(It is not a health issue, as some might have), but it is an area in my
life that is a constant source of aggravation.
One that I have brought before God many times in prayer – yet still it
remains… If God wanted to, He could rectify
it and alleviate my aggravation by making it disappear! I have a hard time picturing life without
this one annoying area of my life constantly hindering me and affecting all
other areas of my life, yet there it is…
This afternoon I found myself wondering
what my life would be like without this “thistle.” Perhaps it is there to remind me that I am
dependent and reliant upon God and God alone.
Perhaps it is there to keep me humble… Perhaps it is there because we
are told to “walk by faith and not by sight.”
It is the one area of my life that I
continually trip over, despair of and struggle against. Is there any thistle in your life that you
can think of that affects you the same? Have you ever pictured what your life
would be like, if the thistle was alleviated?
Or have you wondered why God has not taken it away?
This doesn’t mean I will stop praying that
God will remove it. Perhaps there are still lessons that I need to learn before
it can be removed… Perhaps once I have
learned all that God would have me learn from it being there, it will gone or
maybe it is something He has chosen I have to live with and combat all the days
of my life. I certainly hope not, but if
so I will STILL praise Him. I will STILL
believe that God is good. I will STILL
strive to be all that He wants me to be.
I know that no matter the size that “thistle” sometimes feels in my life,
I serve a God who is GREATER.
“Though
he slay me, yet will I hope in him…”
(Job 13:15)
If you are living with a “thistle” in your life – you should
know that it is only there because God allows it to be so. You should know that He says:
“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 about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For
when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
Although at times this thistle has made my life difficult
and filled it with much aggravation, I have also gained and grown enormously
because if it. And can sing out truly the words of the hymn “My Hope is Built
on Nothing Less” (Lyrics Written by Edward Mote)
“My hope is built on nothing less than
Jesus Christ, my righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but
wholly lean on Jesus’ name
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand all other
ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand
When darkness veils his lovely face I rest
on his unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor
holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood supports
me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way He then
is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh may
I then in Him be found;
In Him, my righteousness, alone, faultless
to stand before the throne.”
“For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
(John 3:16)
No comments:
Post a Comment