Passage Overview · Free · 2 Corinthians 12:7–10
The Thorn, Sufficient Grace, and Power Perfected in Weakness
To keep extraordinary revelations from producing self-exaltation, Paul received a thorn in the flesh, called a messenger of Satan that battered him. Three times he pleaded for it to leave. Christ’s answer was not an identification of the thorn but a promise: grace is sufficient and power is perfected in weakness. Because the text never tells us exactly what the thorn was, specific medical, psychological, or human-opponent identifications must remain proposals rather than facts.