“ Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me” (2 Corinthians 2 v 12)
Troas was an ancient city on the north-west coast of modern-day Turkey. It was an important city situated between Europe and Asia for trade. Lots of people would travel through there. It became a special city to Paul and is mentioned several times in his missionary journeys and in his letters. He had received his call to Macedonia from there; Eutychus was raised from the dead in Troas; and it was where he had left his cloak and his scrolls in the city and instructed Timothy to fetch them. Importantly Troas was opened for the gospel by the Lord. The Lord still opens doors of opportunity.
Yesterday my son who is a Pastor was telling me how they are targeting towns around the city where the Church is and these will be gospel hubs. They are going there strategically “to preach the gospel of Christ” (v12) and my prayer is that as they do they will find the Lord has opened the door for them. There are times to simply scatter the farmers seed and there are times to be scattered strategically.
So from this verse alone what can we glean?
- Paul never took his focus off spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was not his only reason to go to Troas. We will read tomorrow that he wanted to meet Titus and in a few chapters we will see the reason, he was desperate to know the reaction of the Corinthian Church to his letter. Wherever you go today and for whatever reason make sure that you are ready with the good news, it might even end up being the primary reason that you went there.
- There was another reason for being in Troas. It was a place to catch a suitable ship to travel to Macedonia (Acts 20:1). Troas was on the way from Ephesus. He had to be there and had planned to meet Titus. It was a stop-over place. Even when he was in transit he was ready with the gospel so that it appeared that was the reason he was there.
- Remember these verses: “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me” (1 Corinthians 16 v 8-9). In his other letters Paul wrote of an open door that the Lord had given for the gospel. It indicates that God has cleared the way for the gospel to be delivered. We need this today. It is a partnership with the Lord not just our own efforts. We make our plans but so does the Lord. Our task is to simply remain available and aligned to His purposes.
Missions Paul 