God gave me this on Thursday, and it really helped me so I wanted to share.
2 Cor 2: 12-14
“Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”
My first thought was that even though God had opened a door for Paul, he didn’t take the opportunity, saying he had no peace of mind. This surprised me. Paul? Not follow an open door? Is was okay just because he didn’t feel like he should?
Most times I feel like if I disobey God, or something I think He wants me to do, I am a terrible person, and now He hates me. No matter what the circumstances of my saying ‘uh no God I don’t think so but I still love you and live to obey you.” I cannot even repent, because that means turning from my sin, and I know that there will be a future time when I will do it again, whether my Spirit wills to or not. So now I am going to Hell.
Yet Paul says “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ”
I took comfort today in this proclamation. Whether I know where I am going or not, and even when I am afraid my life is all wrong and why can’t I get it right, I will cling to this.
He say ‘always’. Not just ‘leads us’ in a ‘procession’ but a ‘triumphal’ procession. And He says ‘In Christ’ which is a reminder that life is not always what it seems. That I am not really living my life, struggling alone, without help. I am spiritually, positionally, ‘In Christ’
The remaining words let me understand that God can use me wherever I am, even if I think I’m in the wrong place (and the wrong time). That’s a promise, you know?
