The day I started my first job, the president of the company introduced me to my supervisor. Robert seemed like a pretty good guy with his warm smile and pleasant greeting but whenever upper management was not around, He was different.
Robert was, what you might call a “burr under your saddle,” or a “pain in the neck.” He was self-centered and self-serving and he had the ears of upper management. And he was always on our backs. He was unreasonable, very critical, and constantly engaged in ugly and hurtf
ul gossip and inuendo. None of his co-workers or those whom he supervised could get along with him and, one by one, good men would quit the company. Eventually I resigned too. Surely, I thought, life would be better without Robert. It wasn’t!
Over the years, I have made several career changes and even relocated to different cities but I have never been able to escape Robert. He will dog my trail to the grave. I have seen him in every school, every work place, every community and every church; he’s everywhere I go. He just wears a different face and goes by a different name. Maybe you know and have to endure him too.
They say that misery loves company. In my misery, I found sympathetic company with the Apostle Paul. He wrote about his own “thorn in the flesh.” Some people think that it may have been a physical affliction (perhaps poor eyesight). I disagree. By comparing Scripture with Scripture, (eg. “…scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes" Joshua 23:13, “…pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides" Numbers 33:55, "…thorns in your sides" Judges 2:3, “…though briers and thorns be with thee” Ezekiel 2:6) i
t seems evident that all those descriptions refer to people, not physical handicaps.Robert was, what you might call a “burr under your saddle,” or a “pain in the neck.” He was self-centered and self-serving and he had the ears of upper management. And he was always on our backs. He was unreasonable, very critical, and constantly engaged in ugly and hurtf
ul gossip and inuendo. None of his co-workers or those whom he supervised could get along with him and, one by one, good men would quit the company. Eventually I resigned too. Surely, I thought, life would be better without Robert. It wasn’t!Over the years, I have made several career changes and even relocated to different cities but I have never been able to escape Robert. He will dog my trail to the grave. I have seen him in every school, every work place, every community and every church; he’s everywhere I go. He just wears a different face and goes by a different name. Maybe you know and have to endure him too.
They say that misery loves company. In my misery, I found sympathetic company with the Apostle Paul. He wrote about his own “thorn in the flesh.” Some people think that it may have been a physical affliction (perhaps poor eyesight). I disagree. By comparing Scripture with Scripture, (eg. “…scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes" Joshua 23:13, “…pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides" Numbers 33:55, "…thorns in your sides" Judges 2:3, “…though briers and thorns be with thee” Ezekiel 2:6) i
So I think Paul’s “thorn in the flesh" must have been a person like Robert. Paul refers to his “thorn” as a messenger from the devil sent to torment him. Three times, Paul begged God to take this “thorn” out of his way.
We cannot escape difficult people in this life and, no doubt, God has put them in our way for His purpose. But we have been promised grace to deal with them. God's answer to Paul's prayer is certainly applicable to all of us:“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My gracious favor 
is all you need.” II Cor.1 2:8,9
is all you need.” II Cor.1 2:8,9 
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