Lately God has been showing me something that has absolutely flipped my life upside down. I have been investigating this thought for awhile and then last night my buddy Michael Whittle reminded me of this Scripture that clarified it for me.

2 Corinthians 12:7-8: …….So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. 8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

I have heard many people talking lately about how life is tough right now (myself included.) They just do not know what they are supposed to do or are confused about something. It is like life is a mystery that God is keeping from us. We pray for God to help us out of these situations we do not understand.

At C3, Bishop T.D. Jakes spoke to this. He said, “God rarely removes us from a situation, b/c He usually is not looking to change the situation. He is looking to change our perception of the situation.”

Here is the reality. There will always be questions along our journey.

There will always be mysteries in our lives we do not understand. Why? So those who are hungry for God will come and ask him.

Paul understood this concept. He understood that he will always live with a thorn in his flesh. It reminds him he needs God. It does not mean he is doing something wrong or even that God is mad at him. It is God giving Paul an opportunity to show God’s strength.

I wonder how much different our lives would be if we realized that we will always live with a thorn in our flesh? What if our perception of tough situations changed instead of praying for the situation to change? What if times of mystery were considered part of the Christian walk? a thorn in our flesh to remind us we need God.

As Christians, we have to change our perception of tough or mysterious times. Our perception of these times must change as an opportunity for God to be made strong instead of trying to pray our way out of it. When we try to escape these times, we are selling ourselves short of an opportunity. We must learn to live with the thorn and change our perception of it.