JEREMIAH 10:19 – Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, “Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it.”
THEME OF THE DAY: SOME THORNS WON’T BE REMOVED. God always answers prayer. Maybe not the way we like but He does answer every prayer with a “yes”, “no”, or “not now.” How He answers is quite often a revealer of our spiritual maturity.
Think on this for a moment. Are we not quick to praise Him for answered prayer in a prayer meeting or our own private prayer times when He answers according to our wills and desires? But what about when He says, “No” or “Wait”? Are we just as quick to praise then? Likely not, and especially so when we are praying for deliverance from suffering, pain, and other afflictions, emotionally or physically, that seem to drain us of life. Like this prayer of the Apostle Paul that received a “No, I am not answering it as you desire so stop asking” – 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. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me (2 Corinthians 12:7-8).
Now, read how the Apostle Paul responded and in doing so, ask yourself if that defines you when God says, “No, I am not removing that painful thorn in your life” – Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:9). And do the same with the prophet Jeremiah in today’s scripture who said, “I must bear this affliction from the Lord” and to do so without complaining.
There are painful things in our lives, thorns in the flesh even, that God will not remove from us. He knows we need them to keep us dependent upon Him while drawing us closer to Him. When He does this, we must learn to praise and give thanks for the “no” from Him that comes in our prayer as well as the “yes” we receive from Him in our praying. To help with this necessary mark of spiritual maturity, remember that God is love, God is good, God is sovereign and He is all of these not sometime, but all the time.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to see Your goodness in my pain, a pain You have chosen not to remove.”
QUOTE: “Learn to praise, not complain, in our pain. God is good, even in our pain.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim