Paul takes the defense of his ministry to entirely new levels in chapter 12. We read about a man (presumably Paul) who has been taken up to the "third heaven", aka paradise, or what we might commonly refer to as, simply, "heaven".
That sounds like a great deal. The flip side of that deal doesn't sound nearly so great. To make sure he stays humble, God allows Paul to be tormented by some "thorn in his flesh", clearly described as a "messenger of Satan". Yikes. That sounds terrible. But, as usual, Paul's attitude is not one of complaint, but of mature perspective. He doesn't hesitate to ask God to remove the "thorn", but his request is denied and Paul learns yet another lesson about the sufficiency of God's grace and power. God's grace and power are most useful and help when we are at our weakest. We see in verse 10:
"I delight in weaknesses, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong".
They say God doesn't allow people to have to deal with more than they can handle. I think nothing could be further from the truth. He often allows us to face much more than we can handle, since that's the way that 99% of us learn to trust Him and rely upon His strength, power and grace.
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