So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
(2 Corinthians 12:7 NLT)
A family member is very fond of the saying, “Don’t wash your dirty laundry in public,” and I couldn’t agree more. It seems like many people these days just can’t keep their personal problems and crises to themselves. However, this wasn’t the case with the apostle Paul. To this very day, no one really knows what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh,” what this troublesome issue, was. This man certainly knew how to conceal his troubles. Christian author Selwyn Hughes notes, “Paul had a thorn in the flesh and no one knows what it was; if we have a thorn in the flesh, everyone knows what it is!”
Oftentimes, it’s best to conceal our troubles.
Rising with the Son 