Pushing the Spirit, part 5

I think we often make assumptions about the Will of God, based on our carnal comforts. We read verses like this one in 3 John 2 “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” 

I believe, this was the very will of God for Paul also. And yet, in the midst of the Will of God for Paul to be in good health and that all my go well with him – HE said to him, “I don’t need to remove the thorn in order for you to be in health and prosper because my grace is greater than all these external trappings. My grace will carry you through these difficult times, which will in effect, change how you see your situation.” 
 

Folks, if we could just get this same revelation, we would see life so different than how we, mostly, do now. To understand that God has a plan for us and that His plan is far more important than our assessment of how things are going; it would literally cause us to rejoice in the opportunity that lies in front of us. Do you think that Paul the apostle, now that he is in heaven, has even the slightest inkling of regret over the fact that he had to bear a thorn in his life? I believe, now that he has seen Jesus, his attitude would be – I’d gladly bear many thorns if it would result in multitudes coming to Christ. 

A Messenger of Satan

I want you to consider something, Paul called the thorn, a messenger of Satan, and yet the Bible says, there was given me a thorn, not by Satan, but by God. Satan cannot give us a thorn; he can only take advantage of our situations and cause havoc. 
 

Look at it this way, Paul received his thorn because of the surpassingly great revelations God had given him. So, is it possible that only those who have great revelation get thorns? Some of you might be saying – that can’t be because I have plenty of thorns in my life and I’m certainly not a person of great revelation. What if that’s not true? 

Here’s a quote worth writing down in your journal or on one of the white pages in your Bible. “Satan knows your name, but he calls you by your sin. Jesus knows your sin, but He calls you by your name.”
 

What if you are a person of revelation, but because of the thorns in your life, you’ve allowed a messenger of Satan to convince you that you are a failure. He calls you by your sin. Most people who have trials and struggles allow the enemy to convince them that they are nothing in the eyes of God, and getting nothing done for Him. And yet, Jesus, who knows your sin and weaknesses, calls you by your name, and says, 

“My child, don’t worry about your thorn because in those times of trouble you can call upon My grace it’s sufficient. It will carry you through to the greater revelation I have for your family and your community.

You don’t have to push Me. My grace is sufficient. You don’t have to try to force My will; My grace is sufficient. And please don’t try to force your will because you don’t really understand My greater purposes. Just rest in My grace, cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 
 

If our life is not all about the exaltation of our God, then our situations make very little sense to us. But, if we really trust God, then our situations and the various circumstances we find ourselves in, from time to time, don’t need to make sense to us – HE has it, and them, in HIS control… am I, are you, okay with that?   END