Have You Thanked Him For The Thorns?

2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

The literal translation of this verse adds a startling emphasis
to it, allowing it to speak for itself with power we have probably
never realized. It is as follows: “Therefore I take pleasure in
being without strength, being insulted, experiencing emergencies, and being chased and forced into a corner for Christ’s sake; for when I am without strength, I am dynamite.”
 
The secret of knowing God’s complete sufficiency is in coming to the end of everything in ourselves and our circumstances.
 
Once we reach this point, we will stop seeking sympathy for
our difficult situation or ill treatment, because we will recognize
these things as the necessary conditions for blessings.

We will then turn from our circumstances to God, realizing they are the evidence of Him working in our lives.
~A. B. Simpson~
 
George Matheson, the well-known blind preacher of Scotland,
once said,“My dear God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. 

I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses but not once for my thorns.

I have always looked forward to the place where I will be rewarded for my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as a present glory itself.

Teach me, O Lord, to glory in my cross.Teach me the value of my thorns.

Show me how I have climbed to You through the path of pain. Show me it is through my tears I have seen my rainbows.