The Gift

God has a lot of gifts that He gives His children. There is love and grace, mercy and joy, provision and comfort ... oh, lots and lots. Recently I was going through Paul's second epistle to the church at Corinth and came across this well-known text. Talking about the "guy" (Paul himself) who had amazing revelations in a visit to heaven (2 Cor 12:3-6), he went on to say,

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. (2 Cor 12:7)

The famous "thorn in the flesh" thing. He's clear; it's a "messenger of Satan." He's absolutely clear that it was hard to bear (2 Cor 12:8). But, hang on a minute, what's that phrase again? "A thorn was given me in the flesh." Well, now, hang on. That doesn't sound right. "Given me"? That sounds like a gift, not an oppression. In fact, the word there is didōmi, meaning "to give." It is translated "bestow, minister, give, grant, yield." Jesus used it when He said, "No one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father" (John 6:65). Paul used it when he wrote, "It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake" (Php 1:29). Oh! Oh! And there it is again! This "given" -- this "granted" -- includes "believe" and "suffer." It looks like Paul and Jesus and more are all saying that suffering like this is a gift.

Now, we know that can't be true, right? I mean, science has taught us that, for instance, spanking kids damages kids. Causing (or merely allowing) pain can never be good for you. Everyone knows that pain does not produce gain. Oh ... wait ... well, that's inconvenient, isn't it? It looks as if our own cultural thinking admits to the possibility that pain in life can actually produce positive results. And all of us understand "positive results" to be a "gift," a good thing. So ... maybe?

Turns out it's in a lot of places. Paul went on to say in that 2 Corinthians passage that he prayed for that thorn to be removed and God told him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So Paul concluded, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor 12:9-10). Sounds like he thought it was a good gift. James wrote, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4). Sounds like he thought it was a good gift. The author of Hebrews tells us, "For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives" (Heb 12:6). (I don't care what linguistic hoops you jump through; that "chastises" is not "hugs." It means "to scourge" or "whip.") This author goes on to say, "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Heb 12:11). No soft-pedaling here. It is pain. But it is pain for a purpose; pain as a gift that produces "the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

Suffering is unpleasant. No dithering there. But suffering, like sorrow, can produce good (2 Cor 7:10). So Joseph could tell the brothers that sought to kill him and then sold him into slavery, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen 50:20). The difference between this kind of mindset and a brave person holding up in tough times is that this kind of mindset gives purpose to suffering rather than merely enduring it. This kind of viewpoint provides comfort and strength. Anything that pushes us closer to God, that urges more faith, that causes us to share a closer bond with our Savior who suffered so much, that turns our eyes from the temporal and toward the eternal, anything that does this sort of thing for us should be seen as a gift. In this we can give thanks in everything, even hard times, because God is always providing.