A history he never hid, and a thorn God declined to remove.
In short
Paul approved of Stephen's execution and actively persecuted the church.
He never hid that history—he cites it repeatedly in his own letters.
He asked three times for the thorn in the flesh to be removed and was refused.
He wrote much of the New Testament, largely from prison or on the road.
Who Paul was
Paul held the coats while Stephen was stoned. He describes himself as the worst of sinners, in the present tense, decades after his conversion—not as performance but as accounting. He also asked God three times to remove a physical affliction and was told no. His conclusion, that power is perfected in weakness, is the least intuitive sentence he wrote.
What men can learn from Paul
The past is data, not a disqualification
Paul brings up his record himself. He does not bury it or perform shame about it. It functions as evidence of what grace does rather than as a reason to step back.
Unanswered prayer is not silence
Three requests, one refusal, and an explanation: grace is sufficient. The thorn stayed. Paul reframed it rather than concluding God had not heard.
One thing
“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” Paul is explicit that he has not arrived, which is why he keeps moving.
Key verses
Acts 9:3–6
The conversion interrupts a journey taken specifically to arrest Christians.
ACT.9.3-6
3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Grace is sufficient, and power is perfected in weakness—after three refused requests.
2CO.12.9-10
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.
One thing—forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.
PHP.3.13-14
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
That a bad history does not disqualify you, and that unanswered prayer is not the same as being ignored. Paul cited his own persecution of the church openly, and after three refused requests to remove his thorn, concluded that power is perfected in weakness.
What was Paul's thorn in the flesh?
Scripture does not say. Suggestions have included a physical ailment, an eye condition, or persistent opposition. Paul's point does not depend on the specifics—he asked three times, was told grace was sufficient, and stopped asking.