When We Can’t Remove Our ‘Thorn in the Flesh’

Have you ever tried yanking out a weed from a garden without work gloves and painfully discovered thorns on its stem? Or have you been arranging roses in a vase and weren’t careful enough, resulting in a thorn sticking your finger? Not a fun experience, right? 

In life we encounter many ‘thorns’ that have nothing to do with rosebushes or briar patches. Prickly things that can either be a brief annoyance or a nagging dilemma that just won’t go away. We don’t hear the phrase much these days, but I remember when people would talk about their “thorn in the flesh.” (They also talked about the “cross I have to bear,” but that’s a topic for another time.) Sometimes it was a circumstance they were enduring; other times they were referring to a particularly bothersome family member. Do you have a thorn in the flesh like that?

 

As unpleasant as it can seem, at times having a thorn in the flesh can actually be a good thing. The apostle Paul wrote about this, perhaps being the one who coined the term. Citing visions he had received from God, Paul stated, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me” (2 Corinthians 12:7).

 

There’s no clear indication what this “thorn” was. Biblical scholars have speculated but nobody knows for certain. What we do know is God used whatever it was to keep the once proud Pharisee humble. Paul went on to explain why: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’” 

 

Then the apostle concluded, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

 

Could you say honestly say that? A number of times I’ve discovered the reality of God’s grace being sufficient, His power prevailing over my weakness. But I’m not sure about saying I would “delight” in things such as Paul experienced.

 

However, as I ponder this, two people immediately come to mind who personified victorious living despite their own “thorns in the flesh.”

 

Years ago, I joined a small group of folks having an invitation-only breakfast with Kenneth Taylor, the creator of The Living Bible, a very popular, easy to read paraphrase of the Scriptures originally published in 1971. It topped bestseller lists in the United States in 1972 and 1973, and sales ultimately exceeded 40 million copies. 

 

It was a privilege to meet Mr. Taylor, but what I remember most was the extreme difficulty he had trying to speak. He strained to utter each word, and his hearers worked hard to capture what he was saying. Mr. Taylor explained he had undergone extensive medical testing, but doctors could find no physical reason for his speaking disability. 

 

Unable to find a remedy, he concluded God had given this vocal “thorn in the flesh” to keep him humble in the face of his Bible rendition’s huge success. 

 

His original plan back in the mid-1950s was simply to produce a series of Bible stories with pictures for his own children after observing their struggle to understand language of the classic King James Version, the predominant translation at the time. That work expanded over time until he had completed the paraphrase of the entire Bible, published it and saw how eagerly it was received.

 

Proverbs 27:21 states, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.” For Mr. Taylor, his speech malady was perhaps God’s way for ensuring he would pass the test.

 

The other person is Joni Eareckson Tada, whom I interviewed for a magazine article nearly 30 years ago. She’s a gifted speaker, author, artist, singer and radio host. All despite being a quadriplegic for the past 59 years, the consequence of unknowingly diving into shallow water in the Chesapeake Bay and breaking her back.

 

One would expect someone suffering such a tragic injury to become angry and bitter. And Joni admittedly did experience anger, depression, suicidal thoughts and spiritual uncertainty, especially during the initial years as she was undergoing occupational therapy. However, during the interview I found her to be the same positive, optimistic person that millions have seen in the years since.

 

The reason is that her faith in Jesus Christ was indeed tested and proven to be genuine and growing. Prior to her accident, Joni had been an active, athletic young woman, but in retrospect understood her own “thorn in the flesh” had been the best thing that could have happened. She told me, “I shudder to think what my life would have been like” had she not become paralyzed and found herself totally dependent on the Lord – and others, including her husband, Ken – for her daily needs. 

 

To this day, Joni doubts she could have achieved what she has if not for her disability – writing more than 40 books, recording several musical albums, starring in an autobiographical movie about her life, making public speaking appearances all around the world, and strongly advocating for people with disabilities through the ministry she founded, Joni and Friends. She has learned God’s power indeed is made perfect in weakness.

 

Do you have a ‘thorn in the flesh,’ some persistent problem or concern that seems beyond remedy? If so, it’s not wrong to pray as Paul did for God to remove it. But perhaps it’s part of God’s perfect plan, one that couldn’t be accomplished in any other way.

Magnifying Our Miseries and Messes

When I was a boy, we were fascinated by magnifying glasses. If you angled one just right you could concentrate a ray of sunlight on a leaf, watch it start to smolder and before long there’d be a tiny flame. That was our version of “the heat of the moment.”

 

But even more fun was looking at small things and using the glass to make them appear larger. It might be a bug, details on a shiny rock, the statistics on a sports collector card, or any number of things. As we get older, magnifying glasses can serve as very handy tools for reading recipes or directions on the back of a box of frozen food.

 

I remember one of my grandfathers had what they called “Coke bottle glasses” to try and offset the effects of cataracts he had developed. I think they helped him see somewhat better, but I recall how big they made his eyes appear.

 

Sometimes it seems our minds also have a kind of magnifying glass. Except in this case, it’s usually not a good thing. The old saying calls it, “Making a mountain out of a molehill.”

 

The boss finds our work on a project not up to par and immediately we start to worry, “Is he going to fire me?” even though nothing has been even hinted to that effect. We have an argument with our spouse, harsh words are exchanged; in the aftermath we start to fear, “Are we heading for a divorce?” 

 

After a routine checkup with the doctor, she suggests, “Why don’t we run a couple of tests,” and we start to worry, “Is it cancer?” Or some other dread disease? While driving, we hear a strange noise in the car and start fretting, certain it’s a problem that will cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to repair.

 

It’s amazing how we can magnify some small thing into a huge potential crisis and start imagining the worst-case scenario. We all do it, but while magnifying small print so we can read it is good, magnifying problems and making them bigger than they are isn’t good.

 

This is one reason I find God’s promises in the Scriptures so comforting and reassuring. In His “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus warned about the folly of worry: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:25-27).

 

Many of us expend lots of mental and emotional energy wondering things like, “What if this…?” or “What about that…?” Someone has calculated that 90 percent or more of the things we spend time worrying about never occur. And since we don’t know which 10 percent might actually occur, it makes little sense magnifying matters into something they’re not.

 

This is why Jesus added, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

 

It’s true, each day does seem to present trouble of one kind or another, but as they say, “That’s life.” We live in a broken world, filled with broken people. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when we encounter situations that reflect all that brokenness.

 

But rather than extracting our mental magnifying glasses and turning small matters into “the sky is falling, the sky is falling!” events, we can utilize our eyes of faith and trust that even if we do encounter some unsettling news, God’s not caught off guard.

 

Sometimes when I awaken in the morning, the day hasn’t even started and I still feel a sense of anxiety. Often without reason. At such times I like to review and pray a passage I’ve committed to memory, Philippians 4:6-7. It admonishes, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

 

If there’s something specific that’s concerning me, I pray and present it to the Lord. Even if it’s some vague feeling, I do the same. As the apostle Peter urged, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). In fact, He cares about me more than I do myself.

Moral of the story: Magnifying glasses are good for reading instructions on a pizza box or studying box scores in the newspaper, but not for dealing with the challenges of daily living. 

Ghosts, Goblins, Vampires – and Spiritual Reality

Tomorrow marks the annual celebration of costumes, candy, and crazy characters. We know it as Halloween. Some kids, from toddlers to young teenagers, dress up like Minions, Disney heroines, cartoon characters, superheroes and famous people. Others don attire seeming to spell “bubble, bubble, toil and trouble” – looking like witches, ghosts, goblins, vampires and zombies.

 

History tells us the observance hearkens to the ancient Celt and Druid tradition called Samhain, marking the end of summer and the start of the harvest season. It was believed at that time “the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred,” according to Christianity.com. 

 

Fast-forward about 1,000 years. The Roman Catholic Church, rather than abolishing the pagan traditions, shifted the focus from a celebration of pagan deities, roaming spirits and the dead to a Christian emphasis, making Nov. 1 "All Saints’ Day." Since saints also were known as “hallows,” Oct. 31 became All Hallows’ Eve – eventually, Halloween.

 

The event in America began shifting in the late 1800s to a more community-oriented festival, along the lines of seasonal traditions like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Over the decades since, different groups have embraced Halloween in a variety of ways, some retaining the celebratory spirit while others giving it a more somber tone, with a focus on death and darkness. As with Christmas and Easter, Halloween has become a target for considerable commercialization.

 

Today, we have children dressed up as their favorite characters going door to door shouting, “Trick or treat!” At the same time, movie theaters, cable TV and screaming services (I mean, streaming services) have been bursting with collections of films from the horror and occult genre. All in the name of a good scare, supposedly. 

 

All of this leads to the question, “Should Christians celebrate Halloween?” Some believers and churches have taken alternative approaches, such as passing out Gospel tracts along with candy, choosing only uplifting costumes that represent goodness and virtue, or having special church events like “trunk-or-treat.” Lacking an absolute answer on what to do, we must follow our own convictions in the light of biblical truth.

 

I mention this because for years I was captivated by scary movies, starting with “Frankenstein,” “Dracula,” “The Mummy” and “The Wolfman.” Much of the scare effect in those films was the suspense, not knowing what might be lurking around the next corner. It was as much what we didn’t see as what the films did reveal. 

 

Most of today’s films, however, seem determined to escalate the blood and gore quotient. I don’t go to see them anymore, partly for that reason. But for me there’s an even greater reason.

 

Not long after I had committed my life to Jesus Christ, the pastor of my church gave a sermon about the dangers of the occult. He didn’t offer just personal opinions. He used teachings from the Bible to warn members of the congregation about fixating on things of the dark world.

 

His message struck a nerve with me since going to see horror movies and reading books that tiptoed around occult topics had been my “guilty pleasure.” I’d even interviewed horrormeister Stephen King during my days as a community newspaper editor. ‘What’s the harm?’, I had reasoned.

 

I met with the pastor to further discuss his message. Maybe I was hoping he would say it was okay since I wasn’t directly participating in stuff of the netherworld. His response wasn’t heavy-handed; no fire and brimstone tactics. He just asked a simple question: “Bob, when you read those books, where’s your focus? Are you looking toward God – or away from Him?”

 

In the Lord’s wisdom, that’s all I needed to hear. Because I quickly realized that my hobby was exposing me to more of the occult than anyone should know. While there might have been occasional references to God, most of the content was about Satan, demons and devils, and other forms of evil.

 

While the Bible does not speak specifically to Halloween, it does address preoccupation with evil and the demonic. To help believers in ancient Colossae understand what godly living should look like, the apostle Paul admonished, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3).

 

Elsewhere Paul explained that whether we like it or not, we’re all engaged in a spiritual war, one we dare not underestimate. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:10-12).

 

For most people, Halloween is just a once-a-year, fun activity. Nothing more. But we need to recognize there’s an unseen spiritual realm that can ensnare the unprepared. This is why the apostle Peter warned, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

And if tempted to dabble in books or media that clearly aren’t building us up in our relationship with the Lord, we have the assurance of 1 Corinthians 10:13 that, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 

Do You Ever Feel Guilty About Giving?

We’re nearing the start of the “season of giving,” and already the appeals have escalated: Give. Give. And give again.

 

This season of the year more than any other should remind us of the importance of giving. After all, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus Christ came to earth as a man to teach, to serve as our ultimate example for living, and most of all to give His own life as the propitiation – the once and for all payment – for our sins. As Philippians 2:5-8 says about Him:

 “Who, being in very nature God…made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and become obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

 

I fully agree with the old saying, “You can’t outgive God.” How could we ever begin to approach what the Lord has given to us? But as the solicitations arrive in our mailboxes, our email and even in texts, we’re faced with a conundrum: To which should we give?

 

There are myriad worthwhile causes, ranging from the homeless and people living in impoverished parts of the world to veterans with disabilities and/or PTSD to oppressed followers of Christ in foreign lands to hospitals that serve gravely ill children to relief agencies. Maybe people like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett are exceptions, but we can’t help them all. 

 

Then there are the organizations that send unsolicited gifts, things like calendars, books, address labels, pens, flashlights, notepads, even socks. Probably well-intended, but the effect can be making recipients feel obligated or even guilty so they will give something in return.

 

I’m certainly not opposed to giving. Having been the recipient of generous support gifts myself while on staff with several parachurch ministries, I fully understand the challenge of fund-raising and the need for help in advancing God’s work in this world. I regard it a blessing and a privilege to support causes and people I believe in. But when limited funds face a seemingly unlimited list of potential beneficiaries, this business of giving can be unsettling.

 

If only some magic formula could tell us where to direct our charitable gifts, but there’s not. One invaluable resource is prayer. Everything we have has been entrusted to us by the Lord as stewards, so it would be wise to ask how He wants us to direct our giving. But there are other biblical truths we also should consider.

 

Most of all, God is concerned about our motives. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 we’re told, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Another translation says we’re not to give “grudgingly.” Not out of guilt or obligation. And a “cheerful giver” is one who gives with a smile. Giving to support others shouldn’t be a burden.

 

The Scriptures also teach there’s a reciprocal response to our generosity. The very next verse says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

 

This isn’t teaching “prosperity theology,” that if we give a certain amount the Lord will automatically make lavish deposits into our bank accounts. But as Jesus said in one of His teachings about stewardship, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10). If we’re not faithful in how we use what He’s already given to us, why should we expect to receive more?

 

This is a truth we find throughout the Scriptures. As Proverbs 19:17 states, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done.” Another verse declares, “A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor” (Proverbs 22:9).

 

Charles H. Spurgeon put it this way in one of his devotional writings: “It is the teaching of Scripture that the Lord enriches the generous and leaves the miserly to discover that withholding leads to poverty…. Men trust good stewards with larger and larger sums, and so it frequently is with the Lord.”

This does not resolve the dilemma of where we should direct our giving. Those are decisions we must make individually. But we can be assured that if we give with the right motives and with a cheerful heart, not out of guilt or obligation, God will bless our gifts – and perhaps entrust us with more to give. 

All You Can Do Is Where You Are – Not Where You Aren’t

There’s a saying that if you are always prepared, you won’t have to take time to get prepared when an opportunity presents itself. You won’t have to get ready to be ready.

 

This is true for almost everything: A musician putting in many tedious hours of practice so that when asked to perform at a weekend gig, he’s ready. A college athlete expending much time and energy in conditioning, strength training and practice so that when the call for “next man up” comes, he’s ready. The paramedic who has honed her skills through study, review and repetitive practice so that when the emergency call comes, she’s ready.

 

We can apply this principle to followers of Jesus Christ. We never know when God will present us with a divine appointment. We need to get ready – and stay ready. However, not everybody thinks that way. Many believers read their Bibles and attend worship services regularly, but when God opens up an opportunity – to tell someone about Jesus; help a young believer struggling with her faith; pray for someone in need, or perform an act of compassion and mercy in the name of Christ – they hesitate. ‘I’m not ready.’

 

Unlike the prophet Isaiah – who after hearing God ask, “‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?’ responded, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) – they respond, “Here am I. Send someone else!”

 

This runs contrary to the admonition from the apostle Peter who said, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer [make a defense] to anyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

 

Others wait for God to give them a special “calling,” sending them to some exotic locale where they can engage in ministry with people who have never heard the Gospel message. A call to the “mission field.” There’s a fallacy in this kind of thinking. As Oswald Chambers stated in his classic devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest, “Never allow the thought, ‘I’m of no use where I am.’ You certainly can be of no use where you’re not.” The mission field is right here – not “over there.”

 

When I was a newspaper editor, very young in my faith, I had conversations with members of my staff about spiritual matters. We’d discuss our various convictions, but it never occurred to me that I could engage them in a serious conversation about what the Bible says. Years later, after joining the staff of a Christian ministry, I realized my newspaper office could have been as much a “mission field” as some remote village. 

 

In one of his books, the late Jim Petersen wrote about an encounter he had on a trans-Atlantic voyage with two young men heading to Africa to become missionaries. They were looking forward to telling people across the ocean about Jesus. “That’s great,” Petersen reacted. “How many people have you led to Christ back in the States?” With curious looks on their faces, the men responded, “Well, no one.”

 

Apparently, they had never even attempted to share their faith with people they saw every day at school, at work or in their neighborhoods, where they spoke the same language and basically shared the same culture. But they had no doubt about being able to communicate the Gospel message to an unfamiliar people group with a totally different geographic setting, culture and language.

 

After His crucifixion and resurrection, and shortly before His ascension to Heaven, Jesus gave His disciples their final instructions. He promised them, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Yes, the Lord would ultimately send them “to the ends of the earth,” but their starting point was home – Jerusalem, familiar territory.

 

So, the key is not the where of serving as Christ’s “ambassadors,” as 2 Corinthians 5:20 terms it. It’s about being ready – striving to be prepared – no matter where we are or where the Lord sends us.

 

That neighbor you occasionally see and say hello to across the street? Perhaps that’s someone you should pray for, asking the Lord to make it possible for you to talk with him or her about Jesus. I’ve discovered the gym where I work out can be a “mission field” where, surprisingly enough, lots of folks have never heard the truths of the Gospel communicated in a way they could understand.

 

A friend used to give business executives he was mentoring a sign they could post in their offices, just above the doorway, so they’d see it every time they walked through it. The sign read, “You Are Now Entering the Mission Field.”

We’re familiar with what John 3:16 says, that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This means everyone we encounter – at school, at work, next door, in the grocery store, or even at church – is someone Christ died for that needs to hear about this priceless gift that’s been offered. We just need to be ready. 

Telling the Potter What to Do with the Clay

Given the opportunity, can you imagine watching a legendary painter like Van Gogh, Picasso or da Vinci and constantly asking, “Why did you do that?” “Why did you use that color?” “Why did you put that object there in your painting?”

 

Or suppose you were observing Michelangelo in the process of creating his famous sculpture known as of “The Pieta,” depicting Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus Christ after His crucifixion. Would you challenge ‘Mike’ on how he was positioning the figures, or the expressions he was putting on their faces?

 

Or suppose you had a chance to interact with a famous author in the midst of writing a classic novel, let’s say Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment or Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. Would you question why certain characters were being developed as they were?

 

Probably not. Because creators, no matter what type of artistry they pursue, boast what’s called “creative license.” As the originators of their works, they’re entitled to fashion them however they choose. I don’t know if geniuses like Renoir, Michelangelo or Dostoyevsky had friends invited to critique their work, but ultimately the artists themselves had the final say.

 

So, it’s curious that many of us feel comfortable in questioning how God has designed and oversees His creation. This happens at the macro level, when we look at what’s going on around the world, be it severe weather and natural disasters, corrupt politics, heinous crimes, devastating diseases, or crazy goings-on in society. ‘What in the world is going on, Lord? Are you ever paying attention?’

 

It’s even more common at the micro level, looking at our own lives and questioning what God is doing or isn’t doing. It might be a serious health situation we or someone close to us is facing: ‘Why me?’ ‘Why are you allowing this to happen to…?’ Or it might be something involving work – being unemployed and having difficulty finding a new job, being passed over for an expected promotion, being stuck in a job that feels like a dead end.

 

Maybe someone we know seems to get all the breaks, while we encounter one setback after another. Worst of all, the person isn’t a follower of Christ while we’ve been striving to remain true to our faith. Where’s the justice in that, right?

 

We could list countless other scenarios in which we’re tempted to challenge our Creator, wondering if He knows what’s going on or even cares. The old question, ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ and vice versa is one that keeps popping up.

 

If you’ve ever had moments like these, take heart – you’re not alone. These concerns are as old as time. We see this repeatedly in the Bible, especially the Psalms. We see King David pleading, “Answer me when I call to You, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:1). And is Psalm 10:1 we find similar questions: “Why, O Lord, do You stand far off? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?”

 

While it’s human nature to wonder why God allows certain things to occur and seems to prevent other things, the Scriptures offer a straight-forward answer: Because He’s God – and we’re not. Acknowledging the idea of questioning artists about choices in their own creations, the Scriptures use the metaphor of a potter and the clay.

 

For instance, in Jeremiah 18:3-6 we read, “So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.’”

 

Another prophet, Isaiah, uses the same analogy: 

“Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker – one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?” (Isaiah 45:9).

“But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).

 

In case we might think these admonitions were intended only for the nation of Israel, we find the apostle Paul making an equally strong statement in the New Testament: 

“But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, ‘Why did You make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?" (Romans 9:20-21).

 

Maybe the questions for our Creator are of a more spiritual nature, such as why someone else has the gift of evangelism or preaching and we don’t. Or why a friend has such a wonderful singing voice while if we even try to sing in the shower, the tiles start falling off?

 

It wouldn’t have made much sense to ask Leonardo da Vinci why he didn’t give the Mona Lisa a full smile. In a far more profound sense, while we might not always understand what God is doing, we need to trust that His plan is perfect. As Paul wrote about spiritual gifts, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6).

The Bible teaches that the Lord is sovereign and we’re not. He’s the Potter and we’re just the clay. It’s important to remember that. 

Prayer – Last Resort or First Response?

Among our family members we have two first responders – a county sheriff’s deputy and a paramedic who works in a community fire department. I admire them both, especially because I’d be totally unqualified for either job. Having to be out on the streets and not knowing what kind of unpredictable situations await requires someone who remains calm under pressure. That’s not me. 

 

Folks like these called first responders for a reason – when there’s a crisis or an emergency, you don’t call your best friend, your favorite elementary school teacher or your accountant. You want someone who’s highly trained to deal with the situation, whether it’s a crime that’s been committed or someone suffering from a serious injury or illness.

 

Most of us who were riveted to the TV screens on Sept. 11, 2001 will never forget the images of first responders bravely rushing to see how they could help people trapped in lower Manhattan’s iconic World Trade Center towers. As soon as alerts sounded, police, firefighters and emergency workers responded. They definitely weren’t the last resort. While news commentators and government officials were struggling to make sense of the unprecedented acts of terrorism, those brave souls were already on the scene.

 

Pivoting to a spiritual perspective, we also have an invaluable resource that we can turn to in times of crisis – prayer. However, instead of a first response we often treat it as a last resort.

 

It’s freezing outside and we realize the furnace isn’t working. Or we hit the ignition on the car…and nothing happens. Or someone close to us hasn’t been feeling well and the doctor gives a grim diagnosis. Or we’re going through a personal struggle that seems to have no easy resolution. How do we typically respond? 

 

Maybe we don’t panic – or maybe we do. What most of us typically do is either attempt to power through the situation on our own or try to figure out who to call that might be able to help. It’s only when virtually all other options have been tried that we remember the adage, “When all else fails, pray.”

 

But is that the sequence we should follow? Certainly, if we or someone we know is facing a health crisis, we should probably dial 911 pronto. But prayer should also be an immediate response. It’s not a resource we utilize only while attending worship services or hold in reserve until every other alternative has been exhausted.

 

Prayer is many things. It’s the primary way we can communicate with God. It’s how we can praise Him, confess our sins, express gratitude for all He has done and will do, and present our needs and concerns to Him. But it’s also designed to serve as preparation for whatever the Lord has in mind for us to do. As we see in the Scriptures, it’s intended to be our first response. Not a last resort.

 

There’s no greater example than Jesus Christ. No one in history ever faced a more demanding schedule or more stressful existence than Him, and yet He always found time to pray. In the gospel of Mark, we see this from the beginning of His earthly ministry.

 

Jesus had spent the entire previous day ministering to people, healing the sick and diseased, and driving out demons. He could have justified sleeping in the following morning, but instead we read, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed” (Mark 1:35). Without even leaving a note, He just went off while His followers were finishing up a good night’s sleep.

 

Prayer was also one of the final acts Jesus did before His betrayal by Judas Iscariot and the events that led to His crucifixion. Going to the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples, He instructed them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray” (Matthew 26:36). Three times Jesus engaged in agonizing prayer, knowing what lie ahead for Him – pausing only to check on his weary, sleepy disciples in between.

 

The human mind can’t wrap around the biblical truth that Jesus was both fully God and fully man. But we do know He struggled and experienced pain, just as we do. How could He cope with such a daunting mission, knowing a wooden cross on a hill called Golgotha loomed in His immediate future? The gospels inform us that prayer was foundational for everything He did – not something that He kept aside until absolutely necessary.

 

What about us? The challenges and stresses of our days might be dwarfed by what Jesus endured, but starting off each day with prayer rather than waiting until we reach a crisis point is a wise practice.

 

I struggle with prayer like most people but have developed a habit that at least helps get my mind focused on the right direction as each day begins. I pray the reminder from Psalm 118:24 that, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” That offers reassurance God is with me and goes before me each day. 

 

And I also offer a prayer of thanks for the gift of another day of life, recognizing that my heart’s still beating, directing blood through my body; there’s air in my lungs; my mind is working; my limbs are functioning; and I have my senses – most of them, anyway.

 

So, we all can be “spiritual first responders,” praying before we start a new day – as well as throughout the day, heeding what 1 Thessalonians 5:17 teaches, to “pray without ceasing."