Learning to Praise GOD for the thorns!

I know most everyone has something that is considered your 'thorn in the side", but God can make those thorn's a good thing if you will allow Him to. In the Bible, Paul's thorn brought him transformation (from Saul the persecutor of Christians to Paul the preacher), thankfulness (read 2nd Thessalonians 1:3), and a testimony (he was blinded on his journey down Damascus Road but his sight was restored). I didn't abandon ship during all of the storms with sickness, and God's grace is always sufficient to make it through. Those tough and painful experiences are what molds and makes you into a mature Christian, so you can praise God even during your pain. It is so hard to know we should pray for transformation but we pray for substitution; meaning we pray for God to take away all the bad and replace it with something good. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but how can we grow closer to God if we are always abandoning ship during the storms? Those unexpected storms will bring smooth sailing, just hold on and PRAISE GOD during the storms and during the thorns.