Shownotes
Grace in the Thorns: Paul's Pain, God's Power
In this emotionally rich and spiritually profound episode, we walk through 2 Corinthians 12, where Paul opens his heart and offers a rare glimpse into the personal pain behind his ministry. This chapter is filled with tension—between strength and weakness, between pride and humility, between flashy imposters and authentic apostleship. Paul reveals a mysterious vision of the “third heaven,” an encounter with paradise that left him transformed, yet also burdened by a “thorn in the flesh.” Through all of this, he models radical honesty, vulnerability, and trust in God's sustaining grace.
Top Topics Covered:
Boasting in Weakness:
Paul says he doesn’t want to boast, yet does so—not to elevate himself, but to protect the Corinthians from spiritual deception. The “super apostles” had captured their attention with flashy appearances and persuasive words. Paul responds by showing that true spiritual authority comes not from charm but from sacrifice, not from wealth but from weakness surrendered to God.
The Vision of the Third Heaven:
Paul recalls an extraordinary moment 14 years earlier when he was caught up to the “third heaven”—God’s own realm. He speaks of it in the third person, almost as if it’s too sacred to describe directly. What he saw and heard there remains a mystery, but its impact on him is lasting. This encounter reveals a deeper spiritual reality that isn't about clouds and harps but about transformation and truth.
The Thorn in the Flesh:
Paul’s thorn—whether illness, persecution, or temptation—remains ambiguous, but his response is anything but vague. He pleads with God three times for its removal, only to hear the powerful words: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Rather than resent his pain, Paul reframes it as a platform for God’s strength. His vulnerability becomes his witness.
Pain, Leadership, and Love:
Paul shares his frustration and grief that the Corinthian church failed to defend him and fell for false teachers. He reminds them of his sacrifices—never burdening them financially, sending trusted companions like Titus—and his longing for their spiritual health. His pain reflects his deep love: the kind that corrects, confronts, and mourns when people drift away from truth.
Takeaways:
This chapter offers a deeply comforting truth: God doesn’t always remove our pain, but He promises to meet us in it. His grace isn’t a temporary fix—it’s enduring strength. When we are weak, we are not disqualified. In fact, weakness is the very space where divine power shines brightest.
Paul’s story also calls us to love courageously. Whether it's friends, family, or fellow believers, true love doesn't stay silent while others walk toward harm. It speaks up, shows up, and sometimes even looks foolish in the process. That’s the love Paul modeled—and the love we're called to embody.
Finally, if you're wrestling with your own thorn, remember this: God is not distant. He’s not waiting for you to tough it out alone. He says, “I will be enough.” And sometimes, that’s the most powerful promise of all.
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Transcripts
Why does Paul keep boasting when he says he doesn't want to? That's what we're going to talk about in 1 Corinthians 12. We open this chapter with more boasting. Boy, this is Jill from the Northwoods talking about Bible chapters one small step at a time, just as a layperson asking questions, thinking about what Paul is saying and what matters to us right now. He says that he doesn't want to keep boasting, but he has a lot of questions. He's not bragging to be impressive. He's doing this because the people He loves, the Corinthians, started to drift. And they were listening to these super apostles who were puffing themselves up. Look at us. We're fancy. We have fancy clothes. We speak in fancy ways. And not only were the Corinthians listening to those people, they weren't challenging them. And when those people, the super apostles, challenged Paul and said bad things about Paul, they accepted it. They didn't even fight for Paul. And so this is getting back to our sadness that Paul has with this group of people. And he knows that he needs to reestablish some credibility with them, not because of his ego, but for their spiritual health. They are falling away from God and listening to these fancy super apostles instead of the true gospel, instead of what God says. And then he says something really interesting. He starts talking about, there was a man in Christ, and it reminds me of those, you know, people who will call into like the talk show, radio talk shows in the old-fashioned day. I have a friend, and you always knew that that person was the friend, but anyway, this is what happened. Fourteen years ago, this other Christian had visions and revelations from the Lord. He was taken up, it said, into this, a third heaven. And like I said, obviously, we know that Paul is talking about himself in a third person format. And it's a holy conversation that sounds, I don't know why he's dissoning. I don't know why he used this particular language, but he did. And so anyway, this man was caught up in the third heaven. And heaven in the Bible usually has different meanings. And we do the same kind of thing. We just maybe don't use the same words. So the first heaven is the sky. And the second heaven is where all the stars and galaxy and stuff are. And then the third heaven is the spiritual realm, God's dwelling place. And so what Paul is talking about is he got caught up into that paradise. And that term sometimes is referred to as a walled garden, but a safe enclosure, a beautiful space where God is at. And Paul says he heard things that he can't repeat. He's not even allowed to repeat it. And the fascinating thing to me is, why would God show him something and then forbid him from telling others about it? Is it that we can't handle it? Is it that it would distract us in a way that wouldn't be beneficial to us? We know that everything God does is to help us and to be a benefit to us. Or maybe it would cause division. Or some kind of pride. Or something like that. We don't know why. This is questions to ask when we get to heaven. Hey Paul, what couldn't you tell us? But he tells us something about that heaven. That it's not clouds and harps. We always think about that. But it's vivid and it's real. And it's so real that Paul can't even describe it when he came back a changed person. And what I think is interesting about it is, like I said, Time does not move clearly in the same way when you're with God than it does when you are here on Earth. I think those moments on the road to Damascus were a long time to Paul. He got a full-blown education. And this vision when he was taken up to the third heaven, something incredible. And boy, like I said, thanks to ask when we get to heaven. But this is where it gets very personal for Paul, where he says that to keep him from becoming consistent, because of these incredible revelations. I mean, he was given something I think the other apostles were not given. He was given a thorn in his flesh, and it's a messenger from Satan to harass him. What was it? We don't know. Scholars have guessed that it was some kind of a chronic illness. Some people thought that it was his poor eyesight, that he was losing his eyesight as he was getting older. He was losing the ability to write. and read. And I'm sure a guy like Paul, a Pharisee who probably read everything you could imagine back in those days, clearly is a very well-read man, no longer could read. Was it something like a demonic persecution or demonic harassment? Someone feels like, said that they suggested that it was some sort of a spiritual temptation. him. And I don't know what the truth is. And we don't know. We don't have enough information to know. But it was left vague on purpose. And Paul pleaded with God three times to take this away from him. And God said no. Instead, he said, my grace is sufficient for you. My power made perfect in weakness. What an incredible line. I just go over that back and forth in my head. You know, you think about that, that God never says, I'm going to fix everything or that I'm going to take you out of everything. What he says is, I will be enough. I will be enough. And that's where it comes to. So it reminds me, I think, a little bit of that story of there was a novel called The Chosen, which is not related to TV show behind Potick. And in the story, there's a father who won't speak to his son for years. And the son feels unloved. And at the end, he sort of asks his father, why didn't you talk to me? Why did you have silence for me? And the father says, I did it because you were so brilliant. I didn't want you to become arrogant. Now, I don't think God treats us that way. He does speak to us and he's not, you know, doing that. But the idea is that the pain can be there to humble us, to shape us, to draw into something that makes us closer to God instead of leaning into something. Because you could imagine a different Paul, that he was a Pharisee. He probably had all the fancy dress and the fancy education. And then he goes on to be the best apostle ever. And, you know, you could see that maybe he could get away with himself, you know, in that sense. So Paul goes on to say, OK, fine, I will boast even more in my weakness. If that's, you know, where Christ's power is going to show up in his life, That's where I'm going to be. That's where I'm going to boast. And he says that, you know, when I'm weak, then I'm strong. That's the amazing thing that, you know, I've lived it all. I've had the hardest moments of my life where I have nothing left to offer. And those moments is where I have seen God most clearly. I think that's what he's saying. And Paul said something that really hit me that, I don't know, like I said, really stuck with me. I've made myself, you know, a fool. But why? Why would he have to make himself a fool? And what he's saying is, you're making me a fool. You should have defended me. You should have been there and stood up against those apostles that were calling me fake and calling me shabby. And you should have stood up for me. You should have remembered that I was the one who came here, who started this church, who brought you the gospel, who showed you signs and wonders. Didn't ask for anything and not even money acted like a spiritual father to you. And you instead not only entertain these flashy imposters, listen to them, but also then, you know, scorn me along with them. So we're back, you know, to the point where he wrote, said the harsh things. And he even says, you know, oh, forgive me for not even taking your money. I mean, that's the irony. You know, if that's my big sin, that I didn't take money from you. If that's the big accusation from these super apostles, then I'm sorry about that. He's not sorry about that. He did it because he's trying to protect them from manipulation. So he went to Macedonia, got support. They weren't even rich. And just to avoid burdening the Corinthians, he didn't ask them for money, even though he asked the And now these super apostles are twisting his words into something shameful, twisting his life into something shameful. And the Corinthians aren't standing up for him. And it's frustrating and hurtful. I think it's more than frustrating. It's hurtful. So he brings up Titus too and says, you know, I sent Titus to you and he didn't take advantage of you either. We acted in the same spirit. We are sincere. You know us. You've seen us. You know how we live. This is not a scam. This is not a money-draining thing. And so at the end of the chapter, he gets really emotional with this, you know, I'm afraid that when I come, I might not find what I hope for. He's worried that he'll come back and he'll see more division and jealousy, gossiping, arrogance, and immorality, and that the super apostles really have turned them away from the true gospel. And he's going to have to mourn for them. That's how sad this is going to be. And that's love. That's what it means to care for a church. For a family of believers that we don't ignore sin because it's too polite. We don't poo-poo it, you know, and say, well, that's fine. You know, don't worry about it. We grieve. We do that and we call it out because we care. I mean, you think about parents, right? You know, if your kid was stealing or using drugs or hanging out with the wrong people, you'd say, oh, well, that's just none of my business. No, you speak up because you love them. And that's what Paul is doing here. He's not being a busybody. He is being a caring father, a shepherd that when someone he loves, he wants them to flourish. He wants them to be the bride at that wedding idea. Instead, he doesn't want them to be seduced by lies. And so it's compassion for them. He wants everything good for them. And this is such a hard chapter for him, you know, for any of us to watch because you can tell how much he really cares for them. And you can just tell the pain in this. He wants the best for them, and they are not doing what is best for them. What I'm going to meditate on is this idea that my grace is sufficient for you. Whenever there is a thorn in your side, whatever it is, private battles, chronic pain, health issues, disappointment, you wish, and we all wish, that God would take it away, but God may not take it away. And that doesn't mean he's absent. That means that his grace is not a band-aid. You know, it's not like they're there. You know, it's instead the power to endure. It grows joy in us in the middle of it. And joy is not like a flighty, oh, I'm so happy. Joy is that deep. I have joy no matter what is going on. And he is wanting us not just to get stronger. I mean, that's not the idea. He is offering his strength to us. He is saying, I will be there. And it shows up when each of us stop pretending that we got it all. Everything is great. Everything is together. But when we acknowledge that he is making us perfect in the thorns, in the strength, in everything, That's where it becomes the most important lesson. And what I'm going to pray about is that God is a God that sees our weaknesses. He doesn't turn away from us. He has his gifts and his grace that hold us together when we're barely holding on. And when he comes to us with strength, it is not that, hey Jill, I want you to go fight these battles. I'm going to go fight these battles on your behalf. Every single moment he is fighting with his strength, these battles we have in life. And even if we bring nothing to this fight, even if we have empty hands, we're tired, we're wounded, and we're ashamed of how little we really have to offer, God meets us right there and says, my grace is sufficient. And we need help in believing, in hearing that, that power is made perfect in our weaknesses. And it's because he does deeply care. For us, He deeply cares for other people. It is just not words, but it's truth and it's love, and it is always there, even in the hard times and even when it's hard to hear. And what I'm going to share with others is that when we really care about people, we care about our church, our family, our friends, when we care what they believe, we care about their decisions. It's not about meddling. It's about love. And sometimes love means mourning when something really happens, like a bad decision happens with someone we love. We love them deeply, but they're going the wrong path. Sometimes it means calling things out, and sometimes it means showing up when it's very uncomfortable to show up. And Paul loved the enough to be bold, to call himself foolish, to speak truthful things to them, say hard things to them, and then even go back and visit them when, you know, he had other visits that did not go as well. And we have to do the same. We know that love never stays quiet while people are drifting away. Love moves and it takes action. All right, everyone, thanks so much. I appreciate you walking through this with me. If something really hit home with you, if you had a different take, if I got something right, I got something wrong, love to hear from you. You can email me at jill at startwithsmallsteps.com. You can visit my website, jillfromthenorthwoods.com, or you can put a comment right down there in the chat channel below, and I'd love to hear from you. I say a response to every comment. Thanks so much, and have a great day. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."