Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
THURSDAY, March 3
2 Corinthians 12:1-10. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh.
So what exactly was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh?” Scholars have conjectured that it may have been a speech impediment, a limp, migraine headaches, epilepsy, or other issues. Nobody knows for sure.
What we do know is the effect Paul’s thorn in the flesh had on him: it humbled him. Elsewhere in his letters, we meet a self-assured, combative apostle, one whom opponents might have viewed as implacable, too quick to become “elated” (possibly on account of the mystical revelations granted to him). Paul seems to have been aware of this temptation in himself and thus could confess that the Lord’s refusal to remove his thorn in the flesh served to rein in his grandiose notions of his own power. I imagine Paul laughing at himself as he wrote those words, thinking, “I wish it didn’t take something like this incessant itching to remind me that I can’t have everything my way!”
We often need reminding, too. A thorn in the flesh may be a messenger from Satan, as Paul says, but it can be a messenger from God at the same time.
PRAY for the Diocese of Mbale (Uganda)
Ps 18:1-20 * 18:21-50; Deuteronomy 4:32-40; Matthew 7:1-12
View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com or Oremus Bible browser.
A Meditation for Pentecost
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