Wishful
Thinking?
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.”
Paul
had a thorn in his flesh. I do not know
what the thorn was, and I do not think that anyone else does either. Commentators have speculated. The main point is that he had one, and
prayed earnestly several times for God to take it away. God didn’t.
Instead,
God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” (2 Cor. 12). Was Paul a man of faith? Certainly.
Did he have faith that God would take away his thorn? No.
Faith can only live where there is the promise of God, because faith
comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The fact that Paul had a thorn did not take away from Paul’s
faith. God’s promise to Paul was that
grace was sufficient to enable Paul to endure.
Paul’s faith laid hold on the promise, and triumphed, even though the
thorn was not taken away. True faith is
not wishful thinking, nor is it trying to conform God to our will. True faith exists only where there is a
promise. Two things undermine any
promise: either a lack of integrity in the one who promises, or his inability to
fulfill the promise. God passes both
tests, for He cannot lie, and He has power to do all that He promised.
Because
of this, anything that undermines the soul’s confidence in the integrity of
God, or undermines confidence in the power of God, strikes directly at faith.