In 2 Corinthians 12, we encounter Paul's remarkable testimony about his 'thorn in the flesh'—a revelation he kept silent about for fourteen years before finally sharing it to defend the authenticity of his ministry. This message challenges us to reconsider our relationship with suffering, weakness, and God's grace. Paul describes being caught up to the third heaven, experiencing paradise in ways that words cannot express, yet God allowed a messenger of Satan to torment him to keep him from becoming prideful. Three times Paul begged God to remove this affliction, and three times God answered with a resounding truth: 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' This isn't the prosperity gospel we often want to hear—it's the transformative truth that our trials, persecutions, and sufferings are tools God uses to refine us like gold in fire. When we're weak, we stop relying on our own strength, our bank accounts, our abilities, and we finally surrender to complete dependence on Christ. The question we must wrestle with is this: Are we merely believing in Jesus, or are we truly following Him? Even demons believe, but following means denying ourselves daily, picking up our cross, and allowing God to work through our weaknesses rather than our strengths. Our thorns—whether sickness, loss, financial struggle, or relational pain—may be the very instruments God uses to position us exactly where He needs us to serve His kingdom purposes.