When I arrived in Troas I discovered that there was a God given opportunity for me to preach the good news about Jesus Christ.
I had hoped to meet Titus there so he could give me a report of how you had received my letter, and when Titus didn’t show up, I realized I would have no rest in my spirit until I found him and found out how things were going in Corinth. So in spite of the opportunity at Troas, I felt I had to go ahead to Macedonia to find him.
I know that may not sound very encouraging. You may be thinking that as an apostle I should live in a constant state of perfect peace, but it doesn’t work that way. The peace of God sustains me in the midst of pressure, but that doesn’t mean that the pressure isn’t real and that I don’t feel it. I am constantly, deeply concerned about all of the churches under my care.[1]
It’s almost impossible to overstate my emotional connections to the churches I have planted. I think my feelings for all of you are very much like the feelings of a mother as she nurses her newborn child.[2]
We survive these things only be constantly and continuously turning every opportunity to worry and fret into prayer.[3] It is not that we don’t feel the burden, but that we are constantly transferring the weight of that burden over to God.[4]
This is why I can honestly say that in spite of the anxiety I was dealing with that God was leading me in triumph as I went to Macedonia. You could think of Christ as a victorious Roman general and think of us Christians as the soldiers following Him in a victory parade. The smell of the incense being burnt during those parades fill the city streets of Rome. Everywhere we go we spread the word about Jesus Christ and the knowledge of Christ fills the streets of those cities like the smell of that incense in a victory parade.
Not everyone finds this a fragrant aroma. To those who find new life, the truth has a sweet smell while those who reject the truth find it to be like a stench in their nostrils. In calling us to spread the gospel God has involved us in something that is so much bigger than we are that we can hardly grasp it.
This is why I absolutely refuse to try and please certain groups of people by softening or diluting the message in any way. When I speak to you or write to you about Jesus Christ I am giving you a message that comes directly from God, and I am communicating it the exact same way I would if I were physically in His presence and He was listening to every word I am speaking and reading every word as I am writing it.
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