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PROGRAM D-8489
Everybody needs encouragement and help at times, don’t they? As I recently read 2 Corinthians 7, I realized that even the great Apostle Paul had his bad times when he needed other people. He said in verse 5, “In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within” (CSB).
Doesn’t that describe the way you feel at times—conflicts without, fears within? But this is the spiritual giant, Paul, and it surprises us to realize that he would have these same feelings. Remember that positions of prominence do not isolate anyone from being human. Paul was tired and fearful. He needed help.
Where did his help come from? He goes on to say, “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus” (2 Corinthians 7:6, CSB). He needed a friend at his side to comfort him, so Titus came along. We could say to Paul, “But wasn’t it enough to have the Lord there?” And Paul would respond, “The Lord was there in the person of Titus. He comforted me by sending Titus.”
Yes indeed, that’s how the Body of Christ should function. God wants to use us in each other’s lives as messengers of comfort and encouragement, and to help pick each other up at those weary and frightened moments in our lives. God has given us each other for that purpose.
Paul goes on to say that he was comforted by the good report Titus brought to him of the concern for his welfare by his friends in Corinth. Paul needed to know that they cared, that they hadn’t forgotten him, and that they still loved him.
How often do we miss these opportunities to be God’s comfort in the lives of others? How often do we need to be by a friend’s side when they’re experiencing dark days? Or send a message to them—by email, snail mail, or on the phone—just to say, “I care!”
Hallmark Cards has coined the phrase, “When you care enough to send the very best.” When we as Christians care enough about each other, we can send our very best—which is the comfort of God pouring through us to those who need it.
Is there someone in your life today that needs a Titus? Ask God to show you; then allow him to use you as his agent of comfort and encouragement.