⁷Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! ⁸Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. ⁹And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Nothing could be more clear to Paul than the need for humility, and it was equally clear that he could not attain it on his own. Humility is a condition of the heart that results from an initiative outside of a person. Otherwise, one could be proud of humility as originating from one’s own self. In Paul’s case, God took a personal interest in snuffing out the tendency toward pride that Paul himself could not overcome on his own. And the Lord did not give him a choice of how that would happen.

Paul did, of course, have a choice in how he would respond. Notice the acuity of his perspective on this. First, the revelation recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 was of “surpassing greatness.” The experience would certainly appeal to any man’s quest for greatness, to be considered worthy to be transported into a personal experience of Paradise, that which every other man can only possibly experience after death. Apart from God’s intervention in the apostle’s life, he would be hopelessly filled with arrogance and pride, and from a human perspective who could overcome that?

Yet fleshly pride and arrogance dam up the power of God in a person and render him useless for God’s service. God wanted to use Paul, so something had to be done to counteract the fallen nature’s response to the experience. God gave him “a thorn in the flesh.” Although many speculate what that might be, all agree it was some kind of malady in his body, one possibility being damaged eyesight (see Gal 4:15, 6:11). The text indicates that a “messenger of Satan” was sent to torment Paul. Yet, what we learn from the book of Job, we find repeated here. God’s purpose (the ultimate cause of Paul’s thorn in the flesh) is carried out by satanic forces (the instrumental cause) (see 1 Samuel 16:23, 18:10, etc., where the Scripture says “an evil spirit from God came to Saul”).

The fact that Paul prayed three times for this problem to be removed proves that Paul’s humility was not his own doing. But his assent to it is obvious from the fact that he is writing this publicly. He clings to the truth that through this, God’s grace is “sufficient for [him],” and God’s “power is perfected in weakness.” That is the basis for any boasting he might have.

Lord, I choose to boast in my weakness that Your power might be active in me.