Paul explains to the church at Corinth that he had no peace of mind until he heard how things turned out following his first letter to them. It is supposed that he sent his friend Titus, along with the letter and with other companions in the faith, to the church at Corinth. Until Titus returned with news from the church, Paul could not stop worrying about what was going on there.
"Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 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 2:12-13) You will recall that Paul said he had originally intended to visit Corinth on his way to Macedonia, but he was pressed for time and he was reluctant to visit them when he knew he would have to scold them for their behavior. So it would appear that Titus was supposed to join up with Paul on the way to Macedonia to deliver news from the church at Corinth. But when Paul arrived at the meeting spot in Troas, Titus was not there.
It comforts me to know that even an apostle like Paul sometimes found himself so troubled that he couldn't concentrate on his work. We tend to think of the great men and women of the Bible as always standing firm in the faith, but sometimes they gave way to worry just like we do. Should Paul have just simply trusted the Lord to work in the hearts of the people of Corinth after they received his letter? Probably so, but I don't blame him for his anxiety over the situation. I think he was concerned about offending them and about ruining his friendship with them, yet at the same time he knew he'd said what needed to be said. I think he was afraid they wouldn't take his message to heart and that they would continue doing as they were doing. If they made that choice, it was only going to result in harm to them. It was love that made Paul worry so much about them, and this is something we can easily understand. When our loved ones haven't been doing their best, we anxiously await news about them, don't we?
Paul doesn't know why Titus isn't at Troas. In the first century BC it's not as if he can ring Titus up and ask him if he's still at Corinth. He can't send a telegram to Macedonia to see if Titus went on ahead. Unable to do his best in Troas, Paul restlessly moves on to Macedonia in hopes of finding Titus there. Did he do wrong in not giving the people of Troas his full attention? That may be. If so, that's between Paul and the Lord. Or it could be that God had already specifically chosen another apostle or apostles to do the majority of the work at Troas instead of Paul. On the one hand it's hard to believe Paul would shirk any of his duties. On the other hand we have to keep in mind that he was a human being just like we are, and human beings are sometimes so affected by circumstances that it's difficult to give full attention to the task at hand.
Troubled though he was in his mind, Paul still gave praise to the Lord for all the things He had already done and for all the things He was going to do. In the midst of anxiety we can't always find much to be thankful about in our current circumstances. But we can encourage ourselves by looking back on circumstances the Lord has already straightened out for us. That gives us hope that He will fix our current and future problems. This is the example Paul sets for us today as he recalls praising the Lord even in the middle of his anxiety, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere." (2 Corinthians 2:14)
The people of Corinth would have recognized the Roman custom of a great general leading conquered captives behind him. In the case of those taken captive by Rome, some would be enslaved to Roman citizens for the rest of their lives, some would be sold as slaves to other nations, some would be used for amusement in the arenas, and some would be executed. But in Christ's procession of triumph, the captives are the winners! The captives are rejoicing just as much as Christ, the Great General, is rejoicing. For anyone who has been captivated by Christ belongs to Him forever. What belongs to Christ will be shared with those who are His. The captives led by Roman generals were marching against their will; they were defeated and depressed. But the captives of Christ belong to Him willingly, and they rejoice as they follow Him.
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