Lent - Turning Weaknesses into Strength
by Frank Schaefer

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from 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 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.

What was St. Paul's Thorn in the Flesh?
Paul doesn't come clean about it. He keeps it a secret. However, one thing is sure, that he was really concerned about this issue. It continually distracted him. He begged God at least twice that we know of to take it away from him.

Some scholars say, it was a disease, sickness, which kept him from serving God, some say, it was a recurring sin or temptation he found himself giving into again and again. And some scholars have argued that Paul may have been gay, bisexual or transgender.

Whatever it was this weakness was holding Paul back from complete devotion/commitment.
There were so many things with which distracted him, as he mentioned in verse 10. But this weakness concerned Paul the most.

Greek study: "a thorn (skolops) was given me in the flesh, a messenger (angelos) of Satan to torment (kolaphize) me, to keep me from being too elated."  Skolops refers to sharpened wooden stakes form a palisade, a wall for defensive purposes, that are placed in a pit or depression on the hopes that opposing soldiers might fall upon them
kolaphize – has more of a connotation of physical torture than of psychological torment.

But then again, Paul frames this into a cosmic struggle. So my conclusion is that we still don't know. It could be a physical, mental or spiritual struggle. All we can say with certainty from his use of words this thing affected him in a very drastic very real, even physical way.

2. Did Paul get answers to his prayers?

Did God give him what he asked for? Perhaps not, but perhaps God gave him much more than he asked for.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
What he experienced was actually pretty amazing, supernatural really; Paul experienced God's strength through his weakness. In other words, his human weakness, whatever it was, was somehow turned into an advantage, a strength.

Lent is an excellent opportunity to find out about our personal weaknesses. "Knowing Thyself" is so important, because if we know our weaknesses then we can protect ourselves better, then we may have a better chance to resist temptation and experience personal growth.

Allow me to use an illustration from the sport of tennis. As you may know, my sport is tennis. Let me share about one of my tennis friends back in Lebanon who, on first sight, may be considered having an odd game plan. For he is not playing from the center of the court, but rather 6 feet from the center to his left--his backhand side.

When I played him first, I surely thought he must be at a great disadvantage playing like this, but to my surprise he is playing very effectively with this strategy. I find myself trying again and again to hit winners into his open court--his forehand-side. However, my "lop sided" friend runs down and returns well almost all the shots into the open court--because his forehand side is his strength.

It took me a while, but finally I realized something: my tennis friend is very smart. He knows himself. He understands his relative weakness--his backhand stroke. And more importantly, he is using a very effective strategy to protect his weakness. By playing from the backhand side of the court, he invites his opponent to play into his strength, avoiding the frustration of being forced to run down backhand shots and failing to hit them back.

In a similar way does God give us an opportunity to learn about our weaknesses during Lent. Of course, it should not stop with introspection and soul-searching and knowing about our weaknesses, but it is a good first step toward "protecting our weaknesses" so that we can grow spiritually and emotionally to a life of freedom from the sin and mistakes that can so easily make our lives a living hell.

As much as I am dying to know more details about Paul's weakness, in the end I believe God doesn't want us to know what Paul's thorn in the flesh was. It is between God and him. And it is okay not to know the reason. In fact, there is a message in the fact that we don't know....

Because we may have a weakness which no one can understand, not even your closest friends or family members. And the good news is that God knows, God understands it, God knows what you are going through and says: "it's ok" You can not only learn to live with it, but even overcome it and turn it into an advantage, into an amazing story that will perhaps inspire people around you. May God be with you as you learn more about yourself in this year's journey of Lent and may the result be that you become a stronger person in your faith and every other aspect of your life.