Own It

After being crippled with "Jealousy" from early childhood, God recently put someone sent by Him to help me understand why this ugly thing ruled me, making my life as a Christian miserable!  God is loving and never wants to harm us. He is a loving Father who would never give His children a stone when they asked for bread. (Matthew 7:9) So, why would God not deliver me from this ugly thing that I had asked Him to from the day I was born again?  It seemed unfair that the Lord would let me struggle with something that I hated so much.

God gives each one of His children a "Thorn in the Flesh".  The Apostle Paul asked God to remove his three times and God said, "My Grace is Sufficient for You". (2 Corinthians 12:9) What is your thorn?  Mine is "jealousy".  I hope and pray that you will receive understanding through the Holy Spirit what I'm about to say about it. 

A thorn hurts. It is also ugly. It hurts you and other people. We strive effortlessly to get rid of it. And every time we let it use us we feel like we have failed God allowing Satan to beat us over the head furiously with our defeat. How do we get rid of something that controls us? We don't. We embrace it with the thought "Own It"!  We have a fight on our hands! It is not anything outside of us that causes the thorn to rule us, it is inside of us and therefore we cannot blame anyone or anything for our failure to understand that we must fight against it through the Holy Spirit. It drives us to God for help! It is a matter of growing us in His Holiness. "With God All Things Are Possible".( Matthew 19:26) We can apply this verse to our Thorn. 

Our Heavenly Father is growing us in Holiness so we can live with Him in eternity.  "Without Holiness, No Man Shall See the Lord". (Hebrews 12:14)