“I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.” (2 Corinthians 2 v 13)
He waited and waited but Titus never showed up. What life was like without the ability to text! He desperately wanted to hear an update on the Church in Corinth especially after his letter and he was becoming more and more restless. So he decided to catch the ship and hope Titus would turn up eventually (he did, see 7:6)
Paul couldn’t focus on this open door that the Lord had given him (v12), his mind was elsewhere. Isn’t that refreshingly human? When separated from those he cared about, the great Apostle, who sometimes looked untouchable, certainly incomparable to our lives, experiences anxiety. Titus was not just a co-worker, he was his ‘brother’ in Christ. Sometimes our lives are not just about being obedient to open doors but being faithful to people who God has led us to have heart connections with.
He had “no peace of mind”, he couldn’t relax (the Message), the worry for the Church was too much. Instead of panicking Paul took action. He said goodbye to Troas and moved on. If this isn’t surprising in itself, Paul tells the Church how he was feeling. This isn’t some powerful charismatic star who has everything together. He becomes vulnerable. He wants the Church to see his emotions. There are times when pastoral decisions are more important than evangelistic ones and vice versa, wisdom decides each time.
There are times when we just cannot keep doing what we are doing. Like Paul eager to mend any broken relationship with Corinth we have to put down what we are doing and do our best to fix things. To remain unburdened is not the way of Paul, nor for us either. Jesus told us to leave our gift at the altar and go and be reconciled with a fellow believer (Matthew 5: 23-24). Relationships matter.
If today you know a relationship is under strain or even broken, then perhaps you need to ask whether it needs time to heal or that you drop what you are doing because seeking the repair is far more important.
It won’t be until much later into the letter (7:4 that we find Paul picking up when he finally arrived into Macedonia. We therefore have over 4 chapters of somewhat of a digression but we will be thankful for that.
Missions Paul 