Cotton Candy 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. 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 12:7-10
Sometimes I think that the “thorn in the flesh” can appear on the outside to be fluffy, beautiful, and sweet… Perhaps a little like cotton candy?!?! Anybody else with me? 
I’ve had this emotional “thorn” for a few years now. It’s this thing that I just can’t stop thinking about, wondering about, wanting. Of course from the unassuming onlooker, it’s like a freshly spun cone of cotton candy, glimmering with shades of pink and blue, causing even the oldest of persons to revert to childhood. And in fact, a lot of times I see it that way. I see the beauty of the circumstance and what this one thing could offer me. I don’t stop to think about what harm could be caused by what that one thing working out could be. I don’t think about the consequences of putting that much sugar into my body at one time. I’m convinced it’s like air, but in reality it has more sugar than one person should ever consume in one sitting. Because I think I see how wonderful the situation could be, I can’t imagine that there would be any other solution than for it to work out. But that’s not what God has intended for this time or any time in the future.
Believe me; I have begged the Lord to remove this thorn. I’ve begged him relentlessly to change my heart and mind about the whole situation. My thorn may not be a physical pain, but it sure is emotional and spiritual torment. I’ve asked him to make me sick at the thought of it, so that I’ll remember how I felt and not think about it again. At times it’s complete surrender, begging Him to eradicate me of the things that torment me. Other times, I believe I ask God to simply replace it with something else. Either way it’s a thorn. And it’s exactly how Paul describes it – a messenger of Satan to harass me. I’m not saying that it’s the thing that’s bad, but this thorn causes me to doubt God’s goodness and provision in my life. It makes me angry and selfish. I become rude and insensitive because I dwell on the thorn. But, as Warren Wiersbe points out, “In the Christian life, we get many of our blessings through transformation not substitution. When Paul prayed three times for the removal of his pain, he was asking God for a substitution: ‘Give me health instead of sickness, deliverance instead of pain and weakness.’ Sometimes God does meet the need by substitution; but other times He meets the need by transformation. He does not remove the affliction, but He gives us His grace so that the affliction works for us and not against us.”[1]
It’s time for us to stop focusing on the thorn, and realize that God really does have the strength and the power to overcome what we think He can’t. Yes, we need to admit that the thorn is there, but then we need to rely on the grace that He gives us. It’s the riches of Christ’s glory that gives us the ability to stand through all of the junk. “God knows how to balance burdens and blessings, suffering and glory. Life is something like a prescription: the individual ingredients might hurt us, but when properly blended they help us.”[2] If “heartache is a way to demonstrate His sufficiency,” then I must endure.[3] I want to learn from it. I want to understand what it is to lean on God’s grace. I claim that His grace sufficient for all my needs, but have I ever allowed myself to be weak enough to let Him be strong enough?
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