You know the feeling.
Surely, you’ve experienced it.
Your life is beyond beautiful. You are flourishing more than you could’ve hoped, wished, or imagined. Prayed promises are coming to pass, and things that are exceedingly, abundantly beyond your expectations are springing up too!
This has to be the “life and life more abundantly” that Jesus was talkin’ about!
And then, it happens. First a prick and then a poke. If discernment and self-control don’t kick in, a soul puncture is sure to follow. So goes the progression of thorns.
6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:6-10 NIV
Thorns. We all have them. Whether we have the self-awareness and humility to acknowledge them is another matter. Our ability to recognize thorns and our willingness to surrender to the Spirit determine how (or if) we thrive even as the nuisance remains.
Thorns are messengers sent by Satan as reminders of our shortcomings that God repurposes as sanctifying agents.
Thorns are mindsets, proclivities, desires, illnesses, opposition, and so on, used by the enemy for our destruction. Our Sovereign Savior, however, utilizes them to keep us reliant on His strength and submitted to the leading of His Spirit.
What our adversary planned as a snare, Yahweh reframes as a reminder:
We don’t just need a Redeemer; we also need a Rabbi, the One who teaches and leads us in The Way we should go.
Knowing and doing are two different things. Comprehending how to live a life of righteous reliance doesn’t always translate to the aligned action we think it does. Knowing God as my Source & Sustainer doesn’t stop me from tripping over the familiar stumbling block of chronic independence, aka hyper-independence.
Please believe my timbers were shivered, ‘cause what?? Here I was thinking I was acknowledging the Lord in all of my ways and not leaning on my own understanding. All the while, I was slowly drifting back into self-sufficiency.
The easiest way to explain is to provide a glimpse into my quiet time…
10/30/2026
Depend - to put trust in; rely on; be sure of
A heart that is planted in grace is free! It is free from self-protecting, free from striving, free from torment, free from fear.
Day 24 from 60 Days of Unusual by Ryan LeStrange
Emotions: confused, ashamed, grateful, accepted, & challenged
After these things, the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceeding great reward.
Genesis 15:1
Shield | Hebrew: meginnah (pronounced meg-in-naw)
Strong’s Concordance: A small shield or a buckler; fig. a protector; also the scaly hide of a crocodile - armed, buckler, defence, ruler, shield
Osteoderms - A crocodile’s hide is made of bony plates (osteoderms) embedded in its scales that function like a coat of mail.
Buckler - a small, hand-held shield, 8-18 inches in diameter
The shield reference in Genesis 15 is significantly smaller than the shield imagery used to describe the full armor of God in Ephesians 6. Moving with skill and agility protected one’s torso, but it was incapable of guarding the entire body at once.
After these things…
A multi-kingdom war broke out in the Valley of Siddim: 4 allied kings against 5 allied kings. (Gen. 14:1-3)
The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were defeated, their possessions stolen, and their people taken captive, including Lot. (Gen. 14:10-12)
Abram rallied 318 of his servants who were trained for war to defeat Chedorlaomer and his allies. (Gen. 14:13-17)
Abram tithed to Melchizedek. (Gen. 14:18-20)
Abram refused the king of Sodom’s offer to keep his possessions to ensure that no human could ever take credit for his riches. Only God would receive that glory. (Gen. 14:22-23)
“Don’t be afraid,” came after Abram experienced victory in battle.
“I am your exceeding great reward,” came after he refused to cart off the king of Sodom’s treasures.
In this life, we will have troubles, and our joy can abound in advance of fulfillment and in the midst of adversity because Christ, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, has OVERCOME THE WORLD.
Opportunities to fear will come.
Opportunities to hoard tainted treasures will come.
Opportunities to feel exposed, uncovered, and unprotected will come.
Opportunities to make our name great rather than exalting His name above all else are sure to come.
But God.
Lord, help me to remember it is You who made me; I did not produce myself. In You alone do I live, move, and have my being. Apart from You, I can’t create anything with eternal depth and value.
Thank You for graciously calling out my slow drift into the danger zone of self-sufficiency. Thank You for drawing me back to total reliance on You. You have fashioned me for the marketplace to co-labor with leaders, curating work cultures and developing strategies for moving their organizations forward in excellence.
Continue instructing me on relying on Your strength and wisdom, and how to best align with others to scale their businesses as I advance Your Kingdom and bring You glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Sincerely, LaToya NaShae