Anything that happens to you has to pass through God's fingers first.

Dr. Tony Evans says, when the Lord allows something negative to enter our lives,

he'll give us the grace to get through it.

So don't make God so small that you think the devil gets to make the final decisions in your life.

This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

No matter how much we wish it weren't true, it remains a fact. Real growth doesn't come easy. It's a struggle, often a painful one. But today, Dr. Evans explains how to lean on God's grace to

carry us through the process, and what awaits us when we do. Let's join him.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 7, the Apostle Paul is speaking, and he's got a problem. He is dealing

with what he calls in verse 7, a thorn in the flesh.

A thorn in the flesh. The Greek word for the word thorn refers to a splinter or a needle.

Something pricking you, irritating you.

If you ever got a splinter in your finger or in your foot or you got stuck with a needle,

it's pricking you.

Now, Paul does not tell us what his thorn is.

There are a number of possibilities.

For example, the Bible tells us, Paul had an eye problem. So it could have been an eye illness. We also are told, since it says there were messengers of Satan that there were people who irritated Paul, who constantly traveled behind him, undermining him, and he couldn't get rid of them.

Whatever it was, it was driving him crazy.

I wonder if there's anybody here right now that's got a thorn in your flesh.

Maybe you're living with a thorn in your flesh.

I don't know, but it's an irritating situation that won't leave

you alone. Not only is Paul saying he has a thorn, he says this thorn came from the devil.

He says it's a messenger of Satan. It is a satanic prick that was allowed by God.

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