Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. So last week we got started talking about,
as we go into the Thanksgiving season, that we
need to remember to not just be thankful for
the good stuff, but we also need to be. Thankful
for the bad. We need to be thankful for those
thorns in our side, right? We're going to dig
a little bit more into that this week. As we
look, well, this week, we're actually going to
go into a specific verse that talks about that.
As opposed to how we were last week. So let's
open our Bibles up to 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
So your Bibles, your apps, whatever it is that
you use. So we're going to be looking at 2 Corinthians
chapter 12 verses 7 through 10. All right. 2
Corinthians chapter 12 verses 7 through 10. The
word says, And he said to me, My grace is sufficient
for you. For my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore, most gladly, I would rather boast
in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities,
in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in
distress, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak,
I am strong. Now, of course, when we read this,
we don't know exactly what this thorn is in Paul's
side, right? We don't know the exact calamity
that's going on here. However, based upon what
we read in the book of Galatians, right, with
what he had going on, and it's agreed upon by
many scholars that most likely it was some sort
of disease, all right? It could have been his
eyes failing. It could have been malaria. It
could have been... a number of things, possibly
even epilepsy. That's also another one that's
been suggested. We don't know. The thing is,
it's not important that we know. We don't need
to know exactly what it was. What we do need
to know is that it was a chronic issue that impacted
him constantly and had an impact on his ministry.
It was a hindrance to him, all right? And so
because of this, he had to lean into the Lord.
And like many of us, he prayed for a remedy repeatedly.
We see it right here. Not once, not twice, three
times. That's happened to a lot of us, hasn't
it? We have something going on, something that's
not going right. Maybe it's an ailment itself.
And we pray, Lord, take this from me. Lord, heal
me. We pray and we pray and we pray. And just
like with Paul, he says, No. Or maybe he says
not yet. Which for all intents and purposes,
as far as we're concerned, is just another way
of saying no. Because it's not happening right
now. It's not happening in our timetable. But
that's the way we look at it. You know, I've
had more than my fair share. I shouldn't say
more than my fair share. I've had a lot of injuries
in my life. I've spent a lot of time in ERs.
I've had a few surgeries, pretty intensive surgeries.
Not fun. You know, but with all those injuries
and all the times that things would happen, bones
would be broken, concussions and all that kind
of stuff. For me, my Paul moment was when I got
that final injury that ended my military career.
That was a huge turning point for me. Because
from the time I was knee high to a turtle, I
knew I wanted to be one of two things. I wanted
to be in the military and I wanted to be a cop.
And guess what? I got blessed with both. But
then I got hurt. It was a hard pill to swallow.
I can't tell you. I mean, there would be nights,
you know, I'd get done with medical. I'd go and
I'd do my physical therapy and all that kind
of stuff. And I'd get back to the barracks and
I'd pray, Lord, heal me. Make a way for this
not to be true. Help me find a way where I can
stay. I'm not ready. My time here is not over.
Basically begging and pleading. There would be
nights where I'd cry myself to sleep because
that's all I had ever wanted in my life. I was
there. I was literally living the dream. For
better and for worse, I was right exactly where
I had always wanted to be. Minus a stop or two,
I could tell you I loved my time in the military.
There's a stop or two that, you know, well, needless
to say, they're a little life -changing. But
we all have those times in our lives, maybe not
as dramatic, right? Some of us, I know people
that have had injuries, got injured at a young
age. Those ailments carry through throughout
their life. Pains, physical pains, mental pains,
spiritual pains, right? We all have them. You
know, oftentimes we do the same thing. We go
to the Lord, we pray, we beg, we plead. Just
for God to say, no, that's not what's best for
you. And we get so hung up on it, we miss our
blessings. We miss them. Because we're focused
on the wrong thing. So today, I'm going to give
you three reasons why it's good and why you should
count it as a blessing to have a thorn in your
side. First off, we take things for granted.
We take things for granted. We become like the
Israelites in numbers. I'm not going to go through
the whole thing. I'm just going to hit a small
piece of it. But if we go to Numbers chapter
11, verses 4 through 6. So that's Numbers 11,
verses 4 through 6. The word says, The rabble
with them began to crave other food. And again,
the Israelites started wailing and said, if only
we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate
in Egypt at no cost. Also the cucumbers, melons,
leeks, onions, and garlic. But now we've lost
our appetite. We never see anything but this
manna. Right? The Lord had already blessed them
so greatly, so greatly. But they quickly started
looking the other way and were taking it for
granted. And you look at it, they'd been protected
from the plagues. They'd been freed from Egypt.
They were no longer slaves. They were being guided
back to the promised land. So much. Matter of
fact, they're on this journey to go back. And
they're so blessed. They don't even have to worry
about what they're going to eat. The Lord's provided.
Every day, they wake up to this miracle of manna
on the ground before them. They just had to scoop
it up, prepare it, and enjoy it. Manna burgers,
manna tacos, manna enchiladas. Right? Man of
popsicles. Okay, they probably didn't have popsicles
back then. But you get the point. Right? I'll
have a grilled man sandwich, please. You know?
Every day. And it was there for them every single
day. A miracle. And they took it for granted.
Why? Because it became just a part of the daily.
It was mundane. Right? Who in here has a food
that they want to eat every single day without
changing it? Darren. Got one in. What's that?
Blake's Lotter Burger. Oh, man. We got to improve
your taste, brother. Okay. What's up? What's
that? Lumpia? Oh, Lumpia. That's a good one.
That is a good one, yes. Now, let me ask you
this. What kind of lumpia? What's that? Well,
are we talking pork? Are we talking chicken?
All right. If you had to pick one, pork. All
right. So for days and days on end, months and
months on end, that's the only thing you get
to eat is pork lumpia. You know what? For the
Israelites, that's how it started too, though.
That's how it started too. You've known him for
a minute, yes. A little bit longer than Darren.
But you don't get to change what you eat. Like,
so I said one thing every day without changing
it. Ah, aha. So that's why he went with Olympia.
You don't get to choose from the whole menu,
brother. Sorry. That's what God said too. You
get one thing and you're getting a manna. So
for those of you who aren't familiar with lumpia,
I'm very intimately familiar with lumpia. We've
had it here at the church a few times. It is
a wonderful dish. If you haven't tried it, I
highly encourage it. Matter of fact, you know
what? I might talk to the family. We might bring
some for the potluck. I'll tell you what. I'm
thinking about it now. Let's get back on track,
though. But think about that one thing, though.
It's like when I was a teenager, I just said
pizza, right? I thought I was a ninja turtle.
What kind of pizza? Well, back in that time,
I was very simple. Pepperoni, that's it. That's
all I need. You know, if I was feeling froggy,
I'd say throw some pineapple on there. But, you
know, just a plain pepperoni pizza, though. Eventually,
though, that day caught up. I still love pizza.
But you know what? There's other foods out there.
I know for my wife, it's spaghetti. She loves
spaghetti. She goes out to a restaurant. She
sits down and she tries her spaghetti. If it's
not up to par, I'll tell you what, you hear it.
She is a spaghetti connoisseur. But that's the
thing, though. As we get blessed, we have certain
things in our lives that we have been blessed
with, all right? And at a certain point, they
do. They become mundane. Right? It's like you
have that car that you wanted forever and ever
and ever, right? You're like, oh, I'm going to
work toward it. I'm going to save up. I'm going
to get my down payment. I'm going to get this
car. I know, even Twinkie's getting excited.
But you finally go out. You walk into the dealership.
You slap down your down payment. You sign the
paperwork and everything, and you drive it home.
After about a year, what happens? They're already
looking to trade in and get that next glorious
model, right? Happens. To the Israelites, it
was no different. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,
if the stars come out only once a year, everybody
would stay up all night to behold them. How often
do we look at them now, though? They're there
for us every day. I should say every night. But
how often do we actually take time to look up
in the heavens and enjoy this nightly artwork
that the Lord's provided for us? I think back
to when I was a kid. I loved astronomy. You go
out and you learn the constellations and everything.
It's like, you know, here's the hunter. You know,
here's Ursa Major, Ursa Minor. Oh, when you look
at the hunter, you look at the shoulder, and
now that's Beetlejuice, right? All these things.
And then sometimes it gets a little bit more
exciting because then you'd have the stories,
right, that would coincide with this constellation
from the old myths and everything, right? Like
Draco, right? The dragon, right? They kind of
joked around a little bit about it in a movie
back in the 90s. Oh, what was it? Dennis Quaid.
Sean Connery was the voice of Dragon. I can't
even think of the name of it now. But it's a
pretty good movie. But they talk about it. And
it's funny because if you watch Shrek, right,
he sits down at night with Donkey after Fiona's
gone in the cave and boarded it up, right, to
hide. And he's sitting there talking. It's like,
oh, yeah, look, there's so -and -so, the annoying.
Right? And, you know, same thing. They're sitting
there. And there's a certain point, though, where
like everybody else, I stopped looking up at
the stars. Sure, once in a while, I'll go out
and I'll say, hey, cool. Hey, look, there's the
hunter right there. Right? Gets exciting for
a moment. But then after a while, it's like,
okay, I've had my fill. I'm going to go back
in. You know? But it's not like back in the days
where it's like you could, you knew it's like,
hey. We're going into a new season, so that constellation
is not going to be here. It's going to be over
there, and I'm not going to be able to see it
until this time of day when I'm in the bed already,
but I'm going to get to see this one, which I
haven't got to see in a month. We take these
things for granted. The Israelites took these
things for granted. It happens to us all. We'll
all take time. We'll look out the window. We'll
see the stars. But it doesn't have the beauty
that it once did, right? For me, I'm using stars.
It's not like that for everybody. Everybody has
something else. Sunsets, right? Sunrises. All
that kind of stuff, right? And it brings me to
the next point. We become complacent. We become
complacent. Several years ago, there was a Frenchman
who... Captured the world. He was all over the
news. Walking a tightrope between the World Trade
Center, the buildings of the World Trade Center,
years and years ago. Pretty high up there. It's
about 1 ,350 feet high. Well over 1 ,000 feet.
He was up there walking this tightrope. It was
just a few months later. nowhere near as high.
He was about 30 feet off the ground. He was at
home in Florida and he was practicing his tightrope,
right? He's out there walking, maybe he has a
stick, whatever, right? And he fell, got hurt
really bad. And as he laid there waiting for
help and he had other people that were there
with him waiting for the ambulance and all that
to show up, he tells them, I can't, Believe it.
I never fall. See, he'd become complacent. We
become complacent in the same way. We take things
for granted and we become complacent. Turning
to Zephaniah 1, verse 12. Zephaniah 1, verse
12. The word says, and it shall come to pass
that at that time that I will search Jerusalem
with lamps and punish the men who are settled
in complacency, who say in their heart, the Lord
will not do good, nor will he do evil. So what's
complacency? It's a feeling of satisfaction.
Possibly even security and things just as they
are. Without any regard or any kind of danger
that's around or could come. That's what it is.
It's basically a very smug level of comfort.
The type of arrogance, if you will. And here's
the thing about complacency. Complacency kills.
You shouldn't be okay with complacency. The Lord
certainly isn't. The Lord hates it. You look
at what he's saying here. Right? It's laziness.
And it's the type of laziness that not only puts
people in danger here on earth, spiritually.
Because it's this type of laziness that leads
to people becoming lukewarm. for the Lord. Ever
thought of that? Lukewarm for the Lord. And the
word tells us it's better to be hot or cold than
to be lukewarm. Being lukewarm is still a choice.
It's one of those ways that we look to justify
and excuse our sins. Basically, We sweep it under
the rug. Oh, it's not that big of a deal. It's
okay. It's not going to hurt anybody. Right?
We look the other way, like that hole in the
wall, and put a picture up over it to cover it
like the hole's not there. You laugh. It happens.
You know? You see nothing. It's a Jedi mind trick,
right? But that's what it is. You know? And that's
literally the thought that we have. It's like,
it's all right. It's not going to hurt anyone.
And that's the mentality that we have. But guess
what? It does hurt. And contrary to the belief
of many, when you do this, you cannot excuse
and you cannot justify your sin. You cannot hide
your sin from the Lord. Our Lord knows it all.
He's seen it all. He saw it before it even happened.
He knows it's there. So you certainly can't sweep
it under the rug and forget about it. And there's
no excuse that you can tell the Lord, and there's
nowhere you can hide from his sight. Absolutely
nowhere. He knows it all, which is why it's all
the more important. That we search ourselves.
So we talk about this at communion, right? You
need to search yourself. What are your sins?
What are you misstepping? You need to ask Lord,
what have I done that I haven't seen or don't
recognize as a sin? Right? And because of that,
you're able to evaluate exactly where you are
in your walk with Jesus. Am I hot? Am I cold?
Am I lukewarm? Because while you might be able
to lie to other people about things, you might
be able to lie to yourself, you cannot lie to
Jesus Christ. You can try, but it won't fly.
You cannot afford to become complacent. You're
either in it to win it or you're not, which brings
us to my third point today. God has something
better for all of us. Each and every single one
of us. Which is going to bring us back to where
we started in 2 Corinthians 12. Specifically
looking at verses 9 through 10. Paul writes,
And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for
you from my strength. is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in
my infirmities that the power of Christ rest
upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities
and reproaches and needs and persecutions and
distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak,
I am strong. Here's the thing, folks. When we're
left to our own devices and our own strength,
we will mess things up and fail constantly. When
you look to people to do things for you in the
same strength, they will fail you over and over
and over again. Because we're human. We're not
perfect. We get caught up. We start... feeling
strong in our own abilities. We start feeling
strong with the resources that we have around
us. Right? We start getting a little bit of a
chip out of our shoulder because of the things
that we feel we've accomplished. God put that
thorn in Paul's side for a good reason. He didn't
want him to take things for granted. He didn't
want him to become And he certainly didn't want
him to go about ministry and try to do things
in his own strength. The way that we go through
life is usually in our own strength. When we
go to work, it's usually in our own strength,
right? No, he gave it to him for good reason.
It was a reminder, a reminder that he needed
to keep God at the forefront. That Jesus needed
to be at the forefront of everything. Greg Kokel,
he has this statement that he says in a lot of
his teaching. These guys will know exactly, Darren
already knows what I'm going to say. He likes
to say he likes to take a rock and put it in
people's shoe. How comfortable is a rock in your
shoe? You're walking along and all of a sudden
you're like, ooh! Right? And what do most of
us do? We stop right there. We take off that
shoe. We shake out that rock or whatever's in
there. Like, no, we don't want that in there.
That hurts. Uh -uh. And what Greg means when
he says this, like I said, he brings it fairly
often, if you've ever listened to any of his
teachings. When he says he likes to put a rock
in people's shoe, it's because what he's doing
is he likes... To give people something to think
about. He wants to give people something to think
about. And when the Lord allowed for this thorn
to go into Paul's side and torment him daily,
that's what it was. Paul didn't have a shoe.
He had sandals. He kind of had boots. But they
were pretty open. It wasn't enclosed like our
footwear is today, right? Even when you look
at armored stuff, they still had holes and gaps
and stuff in there they had for mobility. None
of them were truly enclosed, unlike what Hollywood
would lead you to believe today, right? Paul
doesn't need you to have shoes for a rock to
get stuck in there. He has other ways. So he
left this torment with Paul to do the same thing.
Such as our many blessings. The strength that
he gives you, the guidance that God gives you.
We don't want to get caught up. We don't want
to become so conceited that we're thinking we're
doing it all on our own, which is why when Paul
wrote this, when he was saying when we're weak,
we're actually strong because it's not your strength
that you really rely on when things get hard.
It's the strength of, The Holy Spirit, right?
Because greater is He who is in you than he who
is in the world, right? When Jesus died and He
sent the apostles out for the Great Commission,
right? He said, when I go, I will send a gift
and He will be with you, the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit inside. It's a reminder. Things are
going to happen. Life is going to be hard. Things
are going to get in the way. But we need to look
to Him. We need to talk to Him. And the best
way for things to get done is for us to have
that relationship. Not be like Jelly Roll in
his song, you know, says, I only go to Him when
I need something. We need to go to Him with everything.
You should be the first thing that you start
the day with and the last thing that you end
it with. You should wake up in prayer. You should
go to bed in prayer. And all the little stops
along the way as you go through your day, you
should be stopping to pray and praise the Lord
and thank him for what he's done for you. For
what he's done for you, what he's doing for you,
and knowing that because of his promises, what
he is going to do for you. He's hard at work.
It's important for us to remember he's hard at
work. And in our weakness, this is a perfect
time for the Lord to go to work because he's
molding you. He's shaping you. He's working on
your character. He's changing you from being
worldly into being more Christ -like because
we are all called to be more Christ -like. He
is softening your heart. and teaching you to
be more loving. In the process of doing that,
you start talking to him, and he's working through
you. You form a relationship. You form a trust.
You form a bond. And before you know it, you're
going to him with certain things automatically.
You're not even having to think about it. Whether
it's the best of times or the worst of times,
it's just already there. Like, hold on a second,
let us pray. Lord, thank you. Thank you. We only
have to do a couple of things. Confess our sins
and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. It's
a very, very small ask for a very, very big give.
In return, we're adopted back into the family.
Forgiven. Like it never happened. Scottish minister,
Alex White, he was known for uplifting prayers
in the pulpit. Bless you. So he was known for
uplifting prayers in the pulpit all the time.
Always had something motivational. Right? It
was something that he was grateful for. There
was one Sunday morning, the weather was particularly
gloomy, and there was a member there in the congregation
who was looking at the weather, and it's just
this gloomy kind of day, right? We all know what
that's like. We all know that feeling. He's like,
ah, today's the day. There's absolutely no way
he's going to have something uplifting to pray
today. He can't have anything motivational. There's
nothing he's going to have that's going to be
good. And much to his surprise, when White began
praying, this is what he prayed. We thank thee,
O God, that it's not always like this. He still
had something positive, didn't he? Man, if only
we could always be so joy -hearted. That thorn
in your side is a firm reminder for all that
he's done, is doing, and is going to do in your
life. We turn to our last verse, James 1, verse
17. It's a firm reminder, and I know we've all
heard this before, that every good... and every
perfect gift is from above and comes down from
the Father of lights with whom there is no variation
or shadow of turning. I like to put the whole
thing there. We like to say every good and perfect
gift is from above. Yes. But you know what? That
focuses on just the gift. Yes, every good and
perfect gift is from above. And we need to acknowledge
the Father as it says right here. who is good
yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Correct? Always.
God is good. So when you leave here today, I
encourage you, be thankful for the thorn that's
in your side, for that rock that's in your shoe,
and let it be a firm reminder. of just how much
you need to look to Jesus in your life and in
your walk as you go forward. Let it be that reminder
that you need to minister to people as you find
them. Not where you want them to be, but where
you find them. And take that light that points
the way to the Lord and give glory to him. Finally,
remember, that thorn won't be there forever.
The day will come when you're reunited with the
Father and it's taken from you. On that note,
let us pray. Father, we thank you for reminding
us that things are just, they're never as bad
as we think they are. We thank you for the reminders
of just how badly we need you. Please, we ask
that you help us to understand why we have the
thorns that we do. and why we have to carry them
in the ways that we do. We ask you to continue
to teach us and remind us to be thankful for
them and to recognize them, not as punishment
or as torments, but as the reminders that we
need in our lives to keep focused with you on
our daily walks, our daily conversations, and
use it as part of that testimony to proclaim
you to the world. And all his people said, amen
and amen. Remember, as you leave here today,
you are loved and you are blessed. So go and
be the church. Thank you for joining us at Healing
Scars with Pastor Burton. If this message spoke
to you, or if you would like to help us reach
more people, please like, review, and share our
podcast. You can learn more about our ministry
or how you can support us at www. Until next
time, take care and God bless.