The author, Al Neumann, at right with a senior at Atria Ranch Park in San Dimas.By Al Neumann
The author, Al Neumann, at right with a senior at Atria Ranch Park in San Dimas.How can this be?
It’s not our usual thing to give thanks for at this time of year. Recently, I heard about a girl named Sandra who’d just lost her little two-year old son. She went to the florist to buy an arrangement to cheer herself up.
When the clerk asked hwy she needed them, the florist told her own story. Her husband had died that year years and this was her first year alone for Thanksgiving. She heard Sandra’s sad story and then reached for a vase with only one long stem of thorns in it. “This reminded me of what Jesus did for us,” said the clerk.” Jesus wore thorns like these to show us he is with us in our grief.”
This made an impression on Sandra. Who can deny, life’s like that. Even rose bushes have thorns.
Paul talked about a thorn in his life – an affliction that was being administered by the devil though God allowed it. The more Paul thought about it the more he realized this affliction was actually helping him stay humble and submissive to God. It was a thorn that had appeared with all the good things he was doing, like the roses that have thorns (2 Corinthians 12:7).
Thorns Aplenty: The oft-imprisoned Paul wrote magnificent
spiritual encouragment from house arrest.In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 Paul wrote frankly about the setbacks and upsets that came his way. Crushed and perplexed and persecuted though he was Paul was not in despair. He’d lived long enough with God to know that there are always benefits to our setbacks when we look a little harder. Most experienced Christians can list some of these:
–Painful trials can remind us of Christ’s sufferings. We look to Jesus when we are going through tough times, when the thorns prick us and we feel bad. And anytime life can get us to focus on Jesus, that’s a good thing no matter how it feels in the short term (Hebrews 3:1). He has wisdom, he has strength, his arms are big enough to carry us.
– Thorns keep us from a sense of pride. That was Paul’s experience and many great Christians and saints have felt the same way. David wrote: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” (Psalm 119:71). It may take while to say that but sooner or later we see God’s purposes at work.
– Trials and thorns in life cause us to look beyond this brief span of human existence. After one bloody battle General Lee said, It is good war is so terrible else we should grow too fond of it. Something like that happens when we get caught up in the setbacks and debilitations of life. We see more clearly that we were not made to live forever as human fleshly beings. “This world is not my hone” goes the old song. “I’m only passing through.”
– Enduring our thorns and trials show forth our faith to others. Anyone can talk a good fight but outsiders or non-believers are much more impressed by seeing how we go through tough times. In Acts 13 Paul was stoned and left for dead, but when he got up and showed he was still able to carry on, well, this helped build the faith of the other disciples. It was after that that Paul stated what all veteran Christians know: “It is through much tribulation we enter the kingdom of God.”
– Trials demonstrate God’s power. Paul saw his thorns as opportunities, weights that were creating spiritual muscles, just like the weightlifter seeks out the hard weights. There are eternal benefits to going through fiery trials with God as our guide. We have learned things that can help others and that’s a lot of what the Christian life is about.
Thorns are mentioned quite early in the Bible – in Genesis 3:17-18 when thorns sprung up in the Garden of Eden as a result of the curse on Adam and Eve and the creation itself. But the curses of Genesis were negated by the suffering Messiah Jesus Christ. He had to suffer a crown of…what was it?…thorns.
Jesus took the crown of thorns upon himself to negate the curse. Jesus reversed the curse by suffering in our stead. “And by his stripes we are healed.” That’s a very good evidence that the suffering and trials – the thorny paths we have to sometimes tread – do have a purpose in our lives. God will remove the thorns eventually. We will not have to suffer forever and unduly. Not even here in this physical life. That is God’s promise to us (1 Peter 5:6-11). After the suffering there comes the crown of righteousness to replace the crown of thorns (James 1:12). God has promised this for those who suffer for his sake. This is the Word of the Lord and you can take it to the bank. With God’s help we can learn to be thankful even for the thorns.