What is a thorn in the flesh? Pablo Martinez knows the answer from personal experience: "For almost my entire life, I have struggled with a harsh thorn in the flesh. An eye disease, juvenile glaucoma, has 'slapped' me since I was eighteen years old. I have undergone fourteen eye surgeries." Others have experienced traumatic losses, too terrible to put into words. Throughout the book, the author gathers the experiences of many such people. Pablo Martinez defines a thorn in the flesh as a situation of chronic suffering that has five distinct characteristics: It is painful; It is limiting; It is humiliating; It is prolonged; It involves struggle.
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul shares about his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). God chose not to remove it, even though Paul earnestly begged Him to. On the cross, Christ experienced human suffering at its fullest, both physically and morally. No one has suffered more than Him. God's identification with human tragedy is perfectly embodied in the name Emmanuel, God with us. Humbly yet wisely, Pablo Martinez leads us beyond the "whys" of suffering, bringing us closer to the door of hope, where one finds renewed strength.
