"For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Cor. 12:8-9).
Some believer''s interpret this Scripture by saying, "Well, that means that after Paul prayed three times, God replied, No, I want you to keep that "thorn." You need it. It will keep you humble and pious.
No, that isn''''t what God meant! God said, "My grace is sufficient for thee."
What is God''''s grace? It''s God''s unmerited, undeserved and unearned favor given to us in the form of Jesus, the living Word. His name, His kingdom, His Spirit, His health, His wealth, His righteousness, His power and His authority is available to ALL human race, but only a few received this Grace by faith . Jesus is the source of ALL the blessings.
We didn''''t deserve any of those blessings, but Jesus made us righteous so we could deserve them. That''''s the measure of God''''s grace, and He told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee."
Jesus was telling Paul, "Look, I''''ve given you everything you need to get rid of that evil messenger. Now just take authority over it." He was not saying, "I want you to keep that thorn in the flesh, Paul. You need it to help you stay humble and pious."
No, God was actually telling Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you. Don''''t go after that messenger of Satan in your own strength - go in My strength. From the position of your own weakness, make use of My strength. Resist the devil in the name of Jesus, and he''''ll flee from you!