Q1. Paul's Thorn in the Flesh

[Krissi]

The explanation or reason for the thorn in the flesh was to keep Paul humble, that is, to eliminate pride. He could have been proud because he -- alone? -- had been given insight and revelation into the nature and character of the kingdom of heaven. He was "caught up into paradise," which is a curious expression as well as a "surpassingly great revelation."

(This leads me to wonder WHY it was such a big deal to God to keep Paul humble about a surpassing revelation ... why not let Paul tell everyone? It would be very inspirational? But Paul, for whatever reason, kept quiet.)

Paul was never healed. I know many people who point to their own prayed-for ailments and use Paul as an explanation for their continued suffering.

Paul said something beautiful about God, however, regarding his own suffering: His "grace was sufficient" and that "power is made perfect in weakness." I believe Paul was saying that God's grace somehow mitigated the pain of his suffering. It must not have done so physically, but spiritually or in his emotions and intellect. God's simple presence, perhaps, was enough to mitigate the pain of suffering, in Paul's telling. 

The part of this verse that fascinates me is Paul's statement that power is made perfect in weakness. This seems to be a theme in the bible and in the Christian life, that only when we're down and out, completely emptied of any ability to correct a situation, does God move. His power, then, is actuated by our felt weakness.

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I am very troubled by how God allows evil to be morphed into good. Much suffering seems unwarranted. Job, for instance, did not deserve or merit what happened to him, yet God let him suffer intensely. Yes, in the end, God "made good" out of it, but, frankly, God could have blessed Job without the horrors of that experience and I rather doubt it would have gone to Job's head. I'm certain, in retrospect, Job would have preferred to NOT have his family murdered and his own health compromised to receive the wealth that came to him afterward as recompense. Some things are never worth the cost.

I've heard Christians claim that Job must have deserved it, that he had a "secret sin" or was so pride-filled that God had to smite him like this to humble him. Besides the fact that the bible says otherwise and that other people were killed (innocent collateral damage?) this seem like an explanation intended to excuse God. God's behavior has to be explained, not that of Job ... His seeming cruelty to an innocent man. Generations of innocent victims have pointed at Job and said to themselves, "Well, at least I'm not alone ..."

Ditto with Joseph. At least Joseph comes off as an egoistic kid when his brothers sold him. But the story of Joseph gets worse as he gets more humble. Again, an innocent man is repeatedly put into jail, sold as a slave, treated poorly, etc. Since God is sovereign, couldn't he have figured out a way of maturing/humbling Joseph which didn't take so many years of his life and put him in such emotional/physical distress? 

Suffering always wants explanation though never seems to receive it. At bottom, it harkens the problem of evil ... theodicy. Saying that God makes evil into good begs the question of why he permitted it in the first place. It makes God into a responder and not an instigator/creator when Satan suggests and does and God either permits or denies. God should be in charge, not Satan! And if He is, then why all the horrible happenings that God-in-charge could have easily stopped? There are innocent sufferers, children who are raped or murdered, illness that strikes the most beautiful of people ... etc. To this day, innocent suffering persists. Why???

Paul's thorn does not answer these questions but rather aggravates them. God could have removed that thorn. God could have made certain that Paul remained humble in other, less painful ways. But He did not. He didn't just PERMIT suffering, He CAUSED it. And frankly, folks, I can't resolve the suffering I've experienced and seen with my strong desire to worship a dependable, good, gentle and loving God.

Where, exactly, is God's grace in the suffering of a raped child?