Scripture
When we arrived in Macedonia province, we couldn’t settle down. The fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn’t relax because we didn’t know how it would turn out.
~2 Corinthians 7:5-7, MSG
Quote
It is encouraging to me to know that great men like the Apostle Paul were human.
~Ya’akov
I’ve said before and I say again: if you have not read Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians in the MESSAGE, you need to do so. You will find that 2 Corinthians is very encouraging. I do not question Paul’s credentials, he was a brilliant man and no doubt the greatest Missionary other than Jesus Himself but unlike Jesus, Paul was just as human as you and I. Like us, he was prone to discouragement and to boughts of anxiety. He got stressed and the church at Corinth was one of the causes. I am sure that everyone at some time or the other has to deal with stress. Whether it be at work, in your marriage or the responsibility of being a parent–we all have stressful moments. Unpleasant and unpredictable circumstances create stress. The church at Corinth had a problem and Paul dealt with it head on by addressing it in a personal letter. After he sent the letter, he had second thoughts. When he didn’t hear from them, he began to worry. After Titus visited the church of Corinth, he came to see Paul and among other things, he assured Paul that everything was alright. He basically reassured Paul of the Corinthians love for the apostle. Results: Paul stopped worrying and began to rejoice.
Do you ever worry? Do you get stressed out with unpleasant circumstances? So do I, so does everyone. The only folks I know who do not worry are the innocent {little children or those who have the mind of a child} and the indifferent. Some people don’t worry because they don’t give a Wheeler or a Wilson. If you are a caring person, you are going to have some anxiety. Let’s say you are the parent of teenagers and it’s midnight and they are not home. You have no idea where they are or what they are doing. Some parents are in the bed asleep or out partying while others are walking the floor. If you care, you are going to worry: if you don’t give a rip there is no stress. I am not encouraging stress, I am just telling you it is normal for a caring person.
For Paul, Titus was a stress reliever. His presence and his reassurance of the Corinthians love for Paul revived the Apostle. Are you creating stress for you friends or relieving stress? I’ve been accused of creating it but actually, I would like to make your day less stressful. This is one reason I tell the LORD all my problems. If I shared them all with you, it would create stress for those who love me. Take your burdens to the LORD and leave them there–prayer is a great stress reliever.
I do want to thank you for the extra prayer yesterday. The key word here is “over.” I came to the office this morning singing. I have been disrespected in my life many times but yesterday may very well take the cake. It’s over and a little humiliation doesn’t hurt anyone, not spiritually. It is very hard on the ego but cannot be compared to the suffering of Christ. We do live in a crazy messed up world! I hope you have a great day and a good weekend.
For the Grace Point family, I will {LORD willing} see you Sunday morning at 10:15, no Sunday School. We will restart Sunday School July 12. We will stay inside on Sunday mornings but we are going back out side on Wednesday nights. The Wednesday night service will begin at 7:00 sharp and be over by 7:30. Dale will sing and I will preach from Romans. This gives everyone an opportunity to attend at least one service. We will go with this plan through June if it works. If it doesn’t, we will try something else.