4. – UNDERSTANDING  AND INWARD CONTENTMENT WITH CHRIST- ” Therefore I am WELL CONTENT with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE; for when I am weak then I am strong.” – V10. Paul said he was “well content” with a host of named difficulties because they had an eternal purpose, “FOR CHRIST’S SAKE.” He understood the bottom line, that this is “FOR CHRIST’S SAKE,” and with the understanding, he could be “well content.” His personal testimony was  “I am well content “(eudokeofrom eu= good, well + dokeo = to think. )  It literally means, “to THINK Good, and so to be pleased or delighted.” He was not some kind of maniac, who loved pain BUT what GOD, PRODUCING.

It is in the present tense, this was Paul’s continuous MINDSET, he  THOUGHT  OF IT AS A “GOOD” thing. Because he understood the purpose of the thorn as revealed to him. So in the midst of the “thorn” that was extremely painful. It is the word used to describe a peg for a tent, and also was used of wood sharpened at one end, to impale or torture someone! With this was many difficulties, he has listed, but his MIND SET was this was GOOD… Because he KNEW God’s Purpose, and so he was “well content,” continually so amidst difficult circumstances because of the KNOWLEDGE, and UNDERSTANDING he had of what God was producing.

Zodhiates explains the word “eudokeo…”  -“means to think well of something by understanding not only what is right and good, as in dokeo, but stressing the willingness and freedom of an intention or resolve regarding what is good.”

In James chapter one, James tells the writers to count it all joy, not because of the trials in and of themselves but what they were producing, namely, perseverance, spiritual maturity, imparting wisdom, and the opportunity through perseverance to express love to the LORD  and eventually receive from  Him the “crown of life.” Both Paul and James looked at what the intent and purpose of the thorn and trials were producing. It did not nullify the pain or difficulty, but the understanding gave them clarity of MIND to see that there was good in this because of what God was producing through them. Paul was not a masochist but his taking pleasure, was because he KNEW, he UNDERSTOOD what the thorn and circumstances were producing.
Do you have a “Thorn? Difficulties? Painfully so? It is not to ignore and somehow try and convince yourself it is not so, BUT GOD… is using them to convey TO YOU and THROUGH YOU, an UNDERSTANDING Mind that this is to be THOUGHT of as GOOD when see through His Purposes, what He is PRODUCING as a result. Has He not also promised, “All things work together for good to those who love God and are the called…” {Romans 8:28-29}

  • His Focus is Not primarily on The Pain – and let us not underplay how severe the pain was – but on the Purpose God has for it…
  • Out of his Pain comes Personal Development and Testimony!

 

Paul’s Understanding Of What God was Producing Caused him to THINK right and Choose contentment!

{From The Message,”Paul’s Thorn; Understanding What God Is Producing” }