Verse By Verse Devotional On 2 Corinthians By Pastor Jack #54

A Case Study in Apostolic Decision-Making

2:12-13  "Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia."

There are several observations that can be made from this little story that have to do with divine guidance and decision-making:

1- An opportunity is not necessarily a call of God. A door was opened to Paul to bring the message of Christ to those in Troas, but he didn’t see that as the call of God to do so. In fact, he eventually concluded it was not God’s call to do so. There is a world of opportunity before each of us. It doesn’t mean that God is called us to do everything.

2- God did not compel Paul to go to Macedonia. He went because it seemed to him the best thing to do. There was a sense of compulsion in his going but there is no indication that Paul felt the Lord specifically moving him to go. He was compelled by his burden and concern for the Corinthians. Though at times God did move him to do something or go somewhere, for the most part even the apostle Paul made his decisions based not on special divine guidance but based on what seemed best and wisest to him at the time.

3- God works through our thoughts and efforts at wise decision-making. Instead of receiving some special direction from God as to what he should do, Paul did what he felt compelled to do. That is, he sailed to Macedonia because he could not conduct his ministry in Troas without being preoccupied with concerns about the Corinthians. Now if God had told Paul not to go, or to do something else, Paul would certainly not have traveled to Macedonia. But in the absence of some clear direction from God, he did what was in his mind to do. Was Paul thereby doing his own will instead of God’s? Not at all. This is the point: we can tell by this that Paul presumed his restlessness in Troas was of the Lord in that it was consistent with Paul having Christ-like thoughts and feelings about the things in his life. A  person who is striving to die to himself and pursue God’s will should not assume that his "instincts" or "impulses" or "compulsions" are contrary to the way of the Lord. The more Christ-like a person becomes the more his (higher) desires are consistent with wisdom and godliness.

I pledge allegiance to You, O Lord. Help me to crucify all my ambitions and lusts. Give me a heart that seeks the things above where Christ is and not the things below. Give me thoughts and perspectives that are in accord with Your truth. In my flesh I cannot think Your thoughts. Fill me with Your Spirit that I might become skilled in Biblical thought patterns andhave the mind of Christ.