Jump Start # 163 

2 Corinthians 7:5-6 “For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without and fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus.”

  Paul is telling the Corinthians of his journeys, or commonly called, missionary journeys. They were not vacations. They were not traveling like celebrities, staying in fine hotels, chauffeured about in limos, the streets lined with adorning fans. It wasn’t like that at all. They had riots caused by their preaching. They were arrested. On one occasion the crowds tried to kill them. The verses today show how these things affected Paul. They hurt him.

  Notice the language:

• Our flesh had no rest
• Afflicted on every side
• Conflicts without
• Fears within

  They were the center of a war zone of persecution. But God was there. God comforts. Paul would say this in the second chapter several times. God comforts the depressed. Paul said, God comforted us. Connecting the dots here, Paul was depressed. We have trouble thinking of a depressed apostle. Our image is that they were always smiling. Happy were they, even when beaten and struck down. Not so. Rejection, persecution has a toll upon the heart.

  You know Paul prayed. You know Paul sought God. That is just the way he was. And God came through. God sent comfort. How? By stopping the threats and persecutions? No. They continued on. God sent Titus. Comfort came in the form of a fellow Christian.

  Now this is a great thought for us. We don’t walk the same steps as Paul, but life bothers us sometimes. We get tossed about and end up scared and depressed, as Paul was. We want relief. We seek comfort. We pray. We turn to the Scriptures. We continue to worship. But the problems remain. The issues do not go away. Why doesn’t God do something we ask.

  Often He already has, we just failed to recognize it. We are expecting help to come in the form of our problems going away, but instead God sends us a Titus. A Titus is God’s comfort to the frightened and depressed Paul. And a Titus may be God’s answer for you. A fellow Christian who encourages. A fellow Christian for support. A fellow Christian to help.

  Titus was a preacher. He was converted by Paul. The book of Titus is written to this person. Paul was older and the mentor of Titus, yet it was Titus who was the comfort for Paul. Could it be our comfort is in someone younger than we are? Could it be in someone that we have taught or mentored ourselves?

  This brings two wonderful ideas: First, be looking for a Titus, they are Heaven sent to help us. Listen to them. Be encouraged by them. Allow God to use them to help you. Second, God may use you as a Titus. It may be that you are aware of someone going through a tough time. Could it be that God is comforting them through you? Your words, your attitude, your thoughts  may be the very thing that calms a scared and depressed heart.

  Titus—he played an important role for Paul. And you play an important role in God’s kingdom today!

Roger