God has given me a ministry of thorns. He has graciously taken all the pain of my life—self-inflicted, other-inflicted, or just the ache of real life—and given me the great honor of using it all for His glory.
This truth was brought home to me as I stood in front of a podium at a correctional facility before several hundred ladies. I have no great skill as an orator or any degree on the wall or social station that would open such doors. My thorns provided the invitation, and thorns were what I spoke of. Oh, I called them by their real names: regret, abuse, addiction, grief, betrayal, depression, divorce, hopelessness. But I wrapped up the talk with God’s promise that He can cause all things to work together for our good and His glory for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
God did not take away Paul’s thorn; He did better. He mastered that thorn and made it Paul’s servant. The ministry of thorns has often been a greater ministry than the ministry of thrones.
When I authentically share the thorns of my life, I free others to share theirs as well, releasing them from the formality, pretense, and self-protective stance that often shrouds our lives. It’s then, when the pain is on the table, that the Great Physician can begin His work.
God may or may not remove the thorns of real life, but He is entirely faithful to use them. That’s what I desperately wanted those precious ladies to know that night. If placed in His hands, He will use our thorns for His glory. He may even grant us a ministry with those thorns.
We have a choice. The same heat that melts wax hardens clay. And the same thorn that pushes us to lean hard into God may cause another to run from Him. Don’t miss your chance to use your thorns for God’s glory.
Becky White is a writer.