Thorns

"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."
(2Corinthians 12:7,8)

The enemy's effort, in this opportunity, is to draw our attention away from God, causing us to focus on ourselves instead. If interpreted wisely though, we recognize this as a tool of humility used to prevent us from 'thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought'. Our minds can very quickly forget we are nothing without the Cross and subsequent life of the Spirit. Every moment of our life finds us walking precariously close to becoming our own god. As the Spirit is willing but the flesh being weak, God's grace is sufficient and He will administer affliction so that we may know what it means to carry our own cross daily.

PJR

"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." (2 Corinthians 12:9,10)