My Grace is Sufficient
2 Corinthians 12:7-12 verses 7-9 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. The apostle Paul had just described in verses 1-6 an experience he had where he was lifted up into Paradise. At that time, he heard words that he describes as 'inexpressible". Immediately after this event, God allowed Paul to experience what he called a thorn in the flesh. The word "thorn" is the word skolops in the greek transliterated word and it means a large stake. This stake seems to be impaled in Paul by either physical pains or mental anguish or possibly both. We know that Paul was often in pain from beatings and imprisonments that he received, so it is not out of the question that from those he suffered some type of ailment.