God has given me a thorn in my flesh. I have had it for sometime now, and I am sure he is using it to keep me humble and teach me to trust Him and to teach me about his goodness. That being said, from time to time… ok, almost weekly, I cry out to Him because of it. Thorns hurt, you know? Last night was no exception, I cried and cried and cried. I cried for a good three hours or so. (That is not normal. Normal is about 30 minutes.) It was three hours of wrestling with God and asking Him to remove the thorn (this is way past the third time) and to put back his hedge of protection, so that Satan would stop attacking me.
This morning when I woke up (after not sleeping well at all) nothing changed. Just like all the other times my circumstances remained the same. The thorn is still there and Satan is still attacking. But you know what? Joy came. That’s right! It always comes in the morning, literally. Nothing has changed regarding my circumstances, but the Lord has once again lifted me up and strengthened me. All of which he doesn’t have to do, you know? The peace, love, and joy I feel are all blessings from God that he could withhold. But, praise God he withholds no good thing (Psalm 84:11). Praise God he longs to comfort us (2 Thes 2:17) and strengthen us in our innermost being (Eph 3:16). Praise God he is our hope and our rock. What a friend we do have in Jesus! What a Savior! What a God! :)