Week 6: February 8-14, 2026 - What’s Your Thorn?

This week’s daily readings:

February 8-14, 2026

This week’s devotional:

What’s Your Thorn?

by Rev. Tammilynn Elerath

Scripture:

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. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

— 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (ESV) 

Reflection:

In the passage above from 2 Corinthians 12, Paul is talking about the thorn he had in his flesh. Notice that we are never told in Scripture what exactly this thorn is, but we do know that it was in Paul’s flesh. It caused him torment, it made him feel weak, and it was a difficult hardship for him. 

I’m sure that we can all relate to Paul. All of us have had, or now have, something that makes us feel weak or is difficult for us to endure. For me, it is chronic back pain caused by a spinal injury when I was 27 years old. The damage to my spine has been a continual thorn in my flesh. Right after my accident, a friend showed me this passage, and I have clung to it throughout the years. At my weakest moments, I have cried out to God, “Lord, help me delight in this pain and weakness and help me find my strength in you.” 

This year was the 25th anniversary of my accident and the Lord showed me something amazing. Because I woke up with pain each day, I would go to my recliner and sit on the heating pad for an hour before I could start my day. During that time, I would read the Bible and pray, sometimes for one to two hours. Instead of rushing into the business of life, it was necessary for me to have quiet time in the morning that I spent with the Lord. The thorn in my flesh was requiring me to slow down, and the Lord was using that time each day to fill me with his presence and with his words. God was strengthening me from the inside out. I can honestly tell you that without this injury I would never have prioritized my time with God in the same way. But God knows me. He created me and he loves me! He knows that I need this time with him each day. And he knows that, without the physical thorn, I would have rushed into my day ahead of him and I would have been much weaker and less able to fulfill his plan and purpose for my life. 

So, I’d like to encourage you this week—each time you encounter pain or hardship or difficulty—stop for a moment and lift it up to the Lord. Ask God whether he is intentionally weakening you so that you can lean into him and his strength, for when we are weak, then we are strong.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, we know that you love us like no other and that all good things are a gift from you. Now, open our eyes to the possibility that our pain and hardships—those thorns in our flesh that weigh us down in this life—may also be a gift from you intended to strengthen us and our testimonies about how you’ve worked in our lives. Teach us to embrace hardships when they come from you with a purpose. Let your Holy Spirit teach us your will and help us to lean into you in our pain, knowing your grace is sufficient for us. May we walk in a way that lets others see your strength instead of ours. And bring us closer to you through your holy word and the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen