Encouragement

While I was driving today I heard a little bit of Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.  One thing stood out to me and it was very encouraging.

Dr. Jeremiah was talking about the apostle Paul and the affliction that plagued him in the later years of his ministry.  In his epistles, Paul refers to this affliction as a thorn in his flesh.  Obviously he isn't speaking about an actual thorn -- if that were the case, he could have just pulled it out and ended his suffering.  Many Biblical scholars have speculated that Paul's "thorn" was some sort of problem with his eyes, perhaps cataracts or some other condition that affected his vision.  But the truth is no one knows for sure exactly what physical hardship Paul had to endure.

I had never considered the implications of the Scriptural ambiguity.  I guess I was willing to go along with the eye theory and didn't really give other possibilities much thought.  But Dr. Jeremiah had an interesting view as to why Paul didn't write about the specifics of his affliction.

According to Dr. Jeremiah, by intentionally omitting any details about what plagued him, Paul was enabling his readers, past, present, and future, to identify with his affliction and the resulting strength that the Lord supplied to him in his weakness.

If Paul had written that he was debilitated by arthritis, someone who is suffering from macular degeneration might think that Paul's struggles and perseverance couldn't apply to them.  Or if Paul had described his hearing loss, readers who've experienced neuropathy or fibromyalgia might not see that Paul's message was applicable to them and their situation as well.

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."  The Word of God is complete, inerrant, totally true, without any unauthorized omissions or additions.  The human authors of the Scriptures have written exactly what God purposed them to write. 

If God had wanted Paul to reveal the nature of his affliction, then the Holy Spirit, the God-breathed co-author with Paul of his epistles, would have instructed him to write specifically about his trial.  It is no mistake that Paul was silent concerning the specifics of the thorn in his flesh.  God did not inspire -- breathe into him -- the necessity to include those details.  Through God's wisdom, Paul's ambiguity allows each reader to see himself in Paul's struggle and, by identifying with him, also find hope and encouragement in his dependence and faith in the Lord.