A Cross… or A Thorn?
After explaining to me her difficult situation, the lady who had stopped me after the service wiped her eyes and looked to the ground.
“It’s just my cross to bear, I guess.”
I understood what she meant and I certainly sympathized with her involuntary suffering she was currently undergoing.
But hers was not a cross to bear. It would be more accurately viewed as a thorn .
If we’re going to handle either one well, we need to understand the difference.
A cross is different than a thorn. To qualify as a “cross” it must be:
- voluntary (chosen by you)
- vicarious (on behalf of another)
- redemptive (bringing the other closer to Christ)
Jesus’ cross was all of these, of course.
What that means for you and me is that when I choose a difficult situation or activity that is beneficial to others over and above myself (vicarious) while having in mind the goal of bringing the one who benefits toward a deeper/higher relationship to God, then that, my friend, is a cross I bear.
However a thorn is different.
A thorn is a difficult situation, circumstance or infirmity that is…
- given by the Lord Himself,
- designed to produce a virtue over and against its opposite (a vice),
- a blessing to the point that were it not for the presence of the thorn and God’s promised accompanying grace, the recipient would be far worse off without it in the areas of life that matter most. (See 2 Corinthians 12)
As spiritual as Paul was, he asked that his thorn be removed. Haven’t you? God only replied, “My grace is sufficient for you.”
Paul’s resulting declaration is that he can actually rejoice in this kind of thorn; and that in his weakness he finds God’s ever-present strength.
Bottom line: the presence of the thorn produces more in your life for the Lord than its removal. That’s why God has it there.
Are you wrestling with God over a thorn? It’s a situation you didn’t choose. A problem you didn’t cause nor ask for.
But in God’s sovereign grace and love, He has chosen for you what you would not, and in so doing – with infinite wisdom – He leverages the thorn to produce something in your life, something precious, that would be produced no other way.
Take heart, beloved.
Every cross and every thorn leads to a promised crown.
Tags: cross, God, grace, Jesus, life, love, precious, strength, thorn
