JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Focus on God’s goodness is found in Second Corinthians 12:8 and 9.

The Apostle Paul told the church about his thorn in the flesh experience.

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest in me.”

We might be able to identify with Paul when we think of our own physical limitations or something that causes us to experience pain. Sometimes God does not remove our thorns because He wants us to remain humble before Him. Paul said that the reason for his thorn was to keep him from becoming conceited.

Another reason for thorns is to move us to depend on God’s grace rather than our own strength. His grace is the reliable foundation of our lives and is the shining influence of our witness for Jesus.

The sufficiency of God’s grace reveals the goodness of God and is a reason to give thanks in the Year of Gratitude.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com