Edition 69
Thorn
Last Edition Recap
How have you applied the last edition to your life?
Opening Prayer
Merciful God, thank You that our relationship depends not on what we do but on who You are; teach us to live fully alive for You. Amen.
Introduction
When adults step on thorns, they quickly remove them and carry on with their business. But when a young child steps on a thorn, everything in their world seems to end. They become completely immobile, consumed with pain, crying out desperately for their parent’s help. This is when something beautiful happens. The parent rushes over, understanding that pain, knowing how traumatic this experience must be for their child. They pick up the child, remove the thorn, and offer comfort until the tears dry.
There’s something profound in this contrast. Adults have learnt to manage their pain privately, efficiently, independently. We’ve trained ourselves not to cry out, not to appear weak, not to need rescue. Children, however, haven’t learnt this terrible lesson yet. They know their limitations. They understand their need. They cry out without shame because they trust someone stronger will come.
A minister once stood before his congregation with an unusual confession. God had impressed upon his heart to share about his struggle with depression – his thorn. It had nothing to do with the sermon topic, yet he obeyed. He told them about reaching a point where he needed professional help, about sessions with a psychiatrist, about anti-depressants. But instead of suffering alone, he chose to speak out and transform his weakness into ministry. That Sunday, a depression support group was born. Over fifty people attended the first meeting. God took his weakness and transformed it into a powerful ministry where others found strength.
Chat Point 1
How would you describe the difference between how children and adults typically respond to pain?
What prevents adults from crying out for help when they’re struggling with their “thorns”?
How might our independence actually hinder our spiritual growth and healing?
What fears keep people from sharing their struggles within faith communities?
How could viewing weakness as an opportunity for ministry change our approach to personal struggles?
Read
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Key Focus
2 Corinthians 12:9 – “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'”
Chat Point 2
What stood out for you about Paul’s experience with his thorn and God’s response?
How does knowing God hasn’t removed your thorn but doesn’t want you to struggle alone affect you?
Why do you think God’s strength becomes more prominent in our weakness?
What might God be revealing about His nature through our unhealed thorns?
How could your current struggle become a ministry to strengthen others?
Final Thought
Paul begged God three times to remove his thorn. Three times he cried out like that child with the thorn in their foot, desperate for relief. But God’s response wasn’t removal – it was presence. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The thorn remained, but everything changed.
This divine paradox turns our understanding upside down. We believe strength comes from overcoming, from removing every obstacle, from never needing help. But God says His power is perfected – completed, fulfilled, made perfect – in our weakness. The very thing we want removed becomes the conduit for divine power.
Consider that minister’s testimony. His depression didn’t disappear when he prayed. The thorn remained embedded. But when he stopped hiding it, stopped managing it alone, stopped pretending strength he didn’t possess – that’s when transformation began. Fifty people discovered they weren’t alone. A ministry was born from a weakness. The thorn became a tool.
Paul discovered something revolutionary: “When I am weak, then I am strong.” Not despite his weakness, but because of it. His thorn kept him dependent, humble, crying out like a child to the Father. It prevented self-sufficiency, that deadly spiritual disease that whispers we don’t need God. Every day, that thorn reminded Paul of his desperate need for grace.
Your thorn might be depression, anxiety, addiction, illness, a difficult relationship, a painful past. God hasn’t removed it, and you wonder why. But perhaps He’s asking a different question: “Will you let Me use this? Will you stop hiding it? Will you cry out to Me like a child? Will you let My power be perfected in this very weakness?”
The adults who step on thorns and quietly remove them miss something precious – the experience of being carried, comforted, held. They manage their pain but miss the intimacy. God doesn’t want you to manage your thorn alone. He wants to transform it into ministry, to perfect His power in your weakness, to show others that thorns don’t disqualify us from being used by God – they qualify us.
My Action
What key insight or learning from this session resonates most with me, and what do I sense God is inviting me to do in response?
Shared Prayer
What are your prayer requests?
Closing Prayer
Lord, our ways are not Your ways; help us bring all we are into alignment with Your will, using even our thorns for Your glory. Amen.
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In-Between Chats: Personal Reflection
What thorn in your life have you been trying to manage alone rather than bringing to God and community?
How might God want to use your struggle to minister to others who are suffering silently?
What step could you take this week to transform your weakness into a testimony of God’s sufficient grace?
Edition Writer: Rev Kevin Zondagh
Methodist Minister, Personal Development Specialist, Life Coach, Relationship Coach and Executive Coach. Founder and Owner of Exemplar Coaching Pty Ltd and CoffeeChatConnect. "We should have the desire to custom design the only life we have. After-all, we buy designer everything. How much more should we Live by Design, not by default?"