Week 46 2 Corinthians
One of the marquee paragraphs in the Corinthian letters says: though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Paul picks up on this idea near the end of the letter when he’s talking about what he called his thorn-in-the-flesh. The ‘thorn’ was a disability he had and it was one he never got rid of. A long time ago a guy told me he figured Paul’s thorn-in-the-flesh was a problem with his eyesight…and as guesses go I guess that’s as good a guess as the next one. Maybe. Paul said the reason he got his thorn-in-the-flesh was: to keep me from becoming conceited because of (the) surpassingly great revelations he’d received.
Anyway Paul’s permanent disability was a problem. But not unilaterally or exclusively problematic since the Lord utilized it as a problem-resolver. The problem that tormented Paul also functioned as a conceit-prevention mechanism. The problem served double-duty. Had two consequences.
So if Paul filled-out this Pain Questionnaire I think his answers would be:
Q: Is Non-Pain preferable to Pain? A: Yes.
Q: Is Pain preferable to Pride? A: Yes.
Note: quotes from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 12:7 (NIV)