There is likely nothing more frustrating in the Christian life than the dilemma of prayers that do not seem to be answered. We are told to pray and to bring our requests to God, yet still our most earnest prayers sometimes seem to be ignored. We have undoubtedly read the verses in John’s gospel that say, in the words of the Lord Jesus, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14). That seems to be an ironclad promise, yet our prayers still sometimes seem to go unanswered.
We have certainly read the admonition of James who said of prayer, “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:2b-3). However, when we evaluate our prayers, we believe we are asking with the right motives for at least some of our prayers and sometimes we pray on behalf of someone else and yet still God does not always give the answers we seek.
We may find the solution to this dilemma in the twelfth chapter of Second Corinthians. But before we get into the text, we should do a little background since we are opening this book at almost its final chapter. Both Paul’s first and second epistles to the Corinthians reveal that this church had some severe problems. They had low spiritual maturity, they failed to properly apply the Word of God to their personal lives, they constantly struggled to detach themselves from the evil world system that surrounded them, and they refused to stand against false teachers and their unbiblical teaching. It is to this problem Paul addresses in Second Corinthians eleven.
They should have developed spiritual discernment by this time, but somehow, they remained as spiritual infants and Paul was concerned that they would be deceived by false teachers. In verse three, Paul stated his alarm, “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). In fact, in the next verse Paul wrote, “You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed” (2 Corinthians 11:4, NLT). They were doing just the opposite of what they should have been doing. Rather than rejecting the false teachers and their corrupted doctrine, they were tolerating it, even though they were preaching an entirely different Jesus. Paul told them, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:13).
To help these Corinthian Christians accept the truth of God’s Word and reject false teachers, Paul gave them a list of his apostolic credentials and it may not be what you or I would expect. Imagine if you were in charge of hiring a pastor for the church and you came across a resume with the following bullet points: “In far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?” (2 Corinthians 11:23-29).
That is quite a list! Paul had suffered greatly to serve the Lord by preaching the true gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. Unlike the false teachers, Paul had sacrificed much, including his physical well-being in order to tell others about the good news in Christ. Yet, through these verses, a question emerges: why did the Lord allow Paul to suffer so much? Paul undoubtedly prayed to have some of these difficulties removed, yet they persisted. Why? What benefit could these troubles have for such a talented and gifted servant of the Lord? We will find an astounding answer to that question in the first ten verses of chapter twelve. As we explore this text we will observe Paul’s heavenly revelations, his tormenting irritations, and God’s sufficient grace. We begin with an amazing journey.
HEAVENLY REVELATIONS. 2 Corinthians 12:1-4
Visions and Revelations of the Lord. After cataloging his many sufferings in ministry, Paul now reveals an exceptional blessing revealed in Scripture only here. This is another of his apostolic credentials, this one, that he has received significant revelation from the Lord. To Paul, relating this experience is unprofitable because it cannot be repeated, but it does show that the Lord was using Paul in a powerful and useful way. The event to which Paul referred had happened fourteen years earlier. Obviously, he would remember the specifics of something of the magnitude of this revelation. Paul wrote Second Corinthians in A.D. 56, so this occurred sometime in A.D. 42-43. Those years are part of ten silent years after his salvation on the road to Damascus and his trip to Jerusalem and before his first missionary journey. This period of Paul’s life is not mentioned in Acts or anywhere else in Scripture. During that time, he may have been in his hometown of Tarsus or Antioch of Syria.
You may recall that since the Lord had a specific and special mission for Paul, He personally revealed that to the apostle. In Acts nine, the Lord revealed His glory to Paul as he traveled to Damascus. Paul saw a great light and heard the Lord’s voice. In the first chapter of Galatians, Paul told us that the Lord had personally revealed the gospel to him, something Paul also referred to in the third chapter of Ephesians. The Bible tells us that the Apostle John also received a special and unique revelation from the Lord.
Caught Up to the Third Heaven. We find that in his vision; Paul was caught up to the third heaven. The words “caught up” are used in First Thessalonians 4:17, where Paul was describing the future Rapture of the church. That verse says, “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” In the Rapture, all those Christians who have already died will experience a bodily resurrection and then those Christians who are alive when Jesus returns will be suddenly caught up to be forever with the Lord. We could actually translate the verse in Second Corinthians, “such a man was raptured to the third heaven.”
The third heaven is the abode or dwelling place of God. In the book of Revelation, John found himself at a glorious throne and that is in the third heaven. The Bible speaks of the first heaven as the atmosphere that surrounds the earth. Isaiah 55:10 says, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven…” The second heaven is interplanetary and interstellar space. In Psalm 8, David wrote, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained.” Finally, the third heaven is God’s dwelling place. It is to this place that Jesus referred in the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who is in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9). Paul also calls this third heaven “Paradise” a term Jesus used in Luke 23:43.
So overwhelming was this experience and so focused was Paul at being in Paradise, that he was incapable of saying for sure whether he went there with his body or not. He had already written in Second Corinthians five that when a believer dies, his or her body remains on earth awaiting the Rapture while his spirit and soul are taken immediately to heaven. Paul did not know and his lack of awareness points to a personal experience. Unlike modern charlatans who claim to have gone to heaven, Paul says nothing about what or who he saw or even experienced, but only what he heard. In whatever condition he was in, he heard and understood the language of heaven.
Inexpressible Words. Paul tells us that he heard “inexpressible words.” He was in the presence of the holy Creator God. In that place, the words he heard were so glorious that he could not express them to others. The phrase, “which a man is not permitted to speak,” likely tells us that God told Paul not to repeat what he had heard. In Daniel chapter twelve, Daniel received a vision and God told him, “Conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time” (Daniel 12:4). The Apostle John heard an amazing revelation, but he, too, was told not to write them down: “I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them” (Revelation 10:4). The full revelation of these things will have to wait until we arrive in heaven.
TORMENTING IRRITATION. 2 Corinthians 12:5-7
Boasting of Weakness. It is amazing that Paul had not written about this revelation for fourteen years and only now reveals it because of the immaturity of the Corinthian Christians. He greatly disliked boasting, but he must urge the Christians of Corinth to place their trust in Jesus and not in experiences and false teaching. That the Christians in Corinth had been so influenced by their culture to be preoccupied by the external and the spectacular was deplorable then and it still is today. What matters the most was not achievement, success, nor experiences, but the Lord Jesus Christ and His work through His church and the true gospel of salvation.
A Thorn in the Flesh. Now we come to the reason that Paul told us about his surpassing revelation. Along with such a privilege, God allowed Paul to have a thorn in the flesh. The word in the original language can be translated either stake or thorn, but in either case the picture of a thorn or a stake piercing the skin brings thoughts of great pain. Paul tells us exactly why God allowed such a painful condition: it was to keep him from exalting himself. Without this thorn, and with all of the amazing revelations, Paul could have easily fallen victim to pride and arrogance.
What exactly was this thorn? Down through the centuries many have speculated. Suggestions include a physical ailment like migraines, eye disease, malaria, epilepsy, gallstones, gout, rheumatism, an intestinal disorder or even a speech impediment. It may have been some residual suffering from his previous traumas. Since Paul neither specified nor described the thorn, it is likely the Corinthians knew what he meant. Paul understood that God had allowed him to have this thorn. This is clearly something God allows for many of His servants. One scholar wrote, “Is there a servant of Christ who cannot point to some thorn in the flesh, visible or private, physical or psychological from which God has granted to keep him or her humble and therefore fruitful?”
A Messenger of Satan. There is something even more astonishing. God allowed Satan to torment Paul through this thorn. God actually permitted a satanic messenger, which we would call a demon, to torment the apostle. The continuous tormenting included physical pain and annoyance. Evidently, this thorn was not something that could be easily treated or cured but kept on tormenting Paul as he conducted his ministry. For Bible students, this is not something new. In the Old Testament, God allowed Satan to torment Job, at first, Satan removed his wealth and his family. Then, he was allowed to take away Job’s health. In God’s sovereign plan, His desire for us is to grow in our faith and become more like our Savior. He uses this to keep our eyes on Him and not on our abilities, successes, or gifts.
SUFFICIENT GRACE. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10
How God Answered Paul’s Prayer. For this continuous torment Paul did the right thing: he prayed. In fact, he specifically asked the Lord three times to remove the thorn. Paul, like most Christians asked God for deliverance and healing from sickness and pain. There is no way of knowing whether thorns in the flesh are temporary to test us or permanent afflictions we have to learn to live with by God’s grace.
Yet even though he prayed three times, God’s answer was simple: the thorn–the affliction–was necessary. In God’s infinite wisdom, He determined that for Paul, the thorn must stay because only in that way would Paul continue to trust in Him. The Bible tells us, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). It was obviously God’s will for Paul to remain humble and completely trust in the Lord.
God’s Grace Is Sufficient. The psalmist said, “Your lovingkindness is better than life” (Psalm 63:3). God’s grace–His lovingkindness–is better than anything in this life. It is certainly sufficient to empower the Christian life and grant power and victory. God wants every Christian to experience the wonder of His marvelous grace. Grace describes God’s undeserved favor and it is a dynamic force that completely transforms the believer’s life beginning at salvation and continuing through sanctification and ultimately to glorification. Ephesians tells us we are saved by grace; Romans tells us we stand in grace and that we are kept by grace. It is grace that sets the Christian faith apart from all other religions. God is gracious, kind, and benevolent in contrast to the gods and false philosophies of false religions.
The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus is grace. John’s gospel tells us that in Christ we have received grace upon grace and that in Him we have grace and truth. Jesus is full of grace and truth. In receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior, we instantly enter the sphere of His divine grace and will remain there for eternity. When God declared that “My grace is sufficient for you,” He announced the sufficiency of His grace to every need in life–first to believe the gospel, then to understand and apply the Word to all the issues of life, to overcome sin and temptation; to endure suffering, disappointment, grief, and pain; to obey the Lord, to serve Him consistently and to worship Him. For every Christian, then, His grace is entirely sufficient.
When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong. Paul’s life showed the priority of contentment. In this case, he is content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties. The Christians at Corinth needed to learn this. Christians in the twenty-first century need to learn this. Whether we are young or old, a new Christian or a Christian of long standing, we need to learn and apply contentment to our lives. Paul wrote in Philippians, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4:11). True contentment that trusts in the Lord leads to the joy of the Lord.
Many times it is only after believers are out of answers, confidence, and strength and have nowhere else to turn but to God that they finally learn that His grace is sufficient. It is there they find that it is not in their own strength but in His alone that they can truly be strong. Have you arrived at that place where you can trust in Christ alone so that His power may dwell in you?
I would like to leave you with five thoughts to take home. First, we don’t live on explanations, we live on God’s promises. We may never understand all that happens to us but we can always trust the Lord. Second, God often uses suffering to reveal our spiritual condition. When a thorn in the flesh arises, where do we turn first? The Lord is training us to turn first to Him. Third, God uses suffering to make believers humble. God wanted to keep Paul from exalting himself. He wants the same thing for us. Fourth, God uses suffering to draw believers closer to Himself. Paul’s thorn in the flesh enabled the power of Christ to dwell in Him. He uses suffering for the same purpose in your life and mine. Fifth, God uses suffering to perfect His power in the believer’s life. That happens only when we turn from our self-centered ways and trust only in Him. When these principles are operating in our lives, we will be able to say with the Apostle Paul, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be” (Romans 8:18). Are you having trouble with thorns? Then it is time to surrender your life completely to the Lord.
God’s amazing grace is available to everyone through the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you invited the Lord Jesus to be your personal Savior and Lord? Through His grace He longs to grant you eternal forgiveness and a place in His forever family. Will you ask Jesus to be your Savior today?
