What is the context?
The opening continues Paul’s explanation of why he avoids being credited too highly because of extraordinary revelations. He says he was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. He calls it a messenger of Satan that torments him, while describing a purpose that checks pride.
Paul gives no precise identification of the thorn. He tells us how he responded: he pleaded with the Lord three times for it to be taken away.
The Lord’s answer directs him to sufficient grace and power perfected in weakness. Paul then says he will gladly boast in his weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on him. The account moves from his request for removal to confidence in Christ’s sustaining presence.
Verse 10 places this response within the insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties he faces for Christ. His strength comes through dependence on the Lord amid those weaknesses.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly see sufficient grace and Christ’s power in weakness as the center of the passage. Commentators differ about the thorn: Wesley’s note on verse 7 discusses a painful affliction; the USCCB note on verse 7 lists illness, temptation and ministry difficulties, including a possible opponent. Those are proposed identifications; Paul leaves the thorn unnamed.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
2 Corinthians 4:7–12 describes the life of Jesus being revealed through His vulnerable servants. Their weakness makes clear that the power comes from God, and their costly ministry brings life to others.
That wider setting helps explain why Paul values Christ’s power resting on him. God’s work through him continues amid weakness, serving people through the gospel. The grace described here sustains him in that calling.
What is our position?
Our study What Does Prayer Look Like?, in its section on Paul’s thorn, understands this as an answer that supplies grace while the suffering remains. Its position is that hardship does not prove God is absent or inattentive. We can trust His care even when the answer takes a different form from the relief we asked for.