Why did not God take the thorn out of Paul's flesh?

* Luís Alberto Alves

This question has fueled several theses since the beginning of the New Testament, after Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven and let the Holy Spirit guide you in this world full of traps, most of them very close to us, sometimes in the hands of people we consider to be excellent , but they are wolves in sheepskin.

Some theologians claim that the thorn in the flesh of the apostle Paul would be the epileptic seizures that plagued him, throwing him down at any hour of the day or night, whether in public or alone. In short, several comments have arisen and continue to feed the minds of Christians and even of those who are not Christians.

But it is necessary to analyze spiritually why this thorn in the flesh. What is the reason, as described in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 7 through 9, that God would tell Paul that only his Grace was enough and that Paul no longer had to complain. Accept the thorn and bear with the pain provoked.

We all have a thorn. It manifests itself in several ways: sometimes it is insomnia that does not give rest, a pain in the spine that remedy or treatment can not solve, or even persecutions that appear gratuitously at work, school, family or even within the church, or even uncertainty that walks side by side without any sign of going away. Anyway, the examples are many.

God knows our future. You know what will happen later. He probes the heart, even of the most hardened Christian, and is not mistaken with anyone. (Lord, you know that I love you too much, I will go with you to any place in this world, I will give my life to preach your Gospel, I will not deny my love for you ...).

Jesus allows the thorn in our flesh to serve as a brake to our ambitions, the sinful desires that spring from the heart. It is to remember that the Lord is the one who commands in projects that we consider good, but for Christ they are abysses and defeats.

 He could remove the thorn. Yes! But do not do this.
From the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel man was defiled with pride and arrogance. Give a little money and power to the human being! Then he changes his figure. Forget where he left off and even the love of Jesus. This is how the wheel turns. The thorn is for the Christian to never forget, that without God he is nothing.

* Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor