September 23, 2022 - 2 Corinthians 7:5-6

“When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside. But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.” 2 Corinthians 7:5-6 NLT

Lord, we praise you that you are the God who encourages us. You are our greatest encourager. Thank you for how you are always there beside us reassuring us and cheering us on. You long to see us succeed. No matter what life throws our way, you are there with us to help us walk through it.

We can follow Paul’s life to see it definitely wasn’t always easy. As he wrote this verse, he could say it as truth because he had lived it. He was imprisoned, kicked out of cities, severely beaten up, all while and because he was doing your work. He did what you called him to do and faced such trials. Help us remember that just because you call us to something doesn’t mean that we will not have to overcome great trials to get it done. It is often the opposite. When you call us to do your great work, our enemy will fight us to keep us from accomplishing those things. If we aren’t under attack, we should probably assess if we are following the right orders. But Lord, how wonderful that even if, like Paul described here, we are exhausted from the fight and are facing conflict from every direction, external and internal, you are with us. You will send us whatever we need to keep going. For Paul it was Titus. You sent him a friend to walk with him and be an encouragement. We pray today that you would send us what we need - not necessarily what we want. Lord, we trust that you know what will encourage us the most and keep us moving forward. Send us those things. We want to continue to press forward. Give us the strength to overcome all the opposition to accomplish the tasks you have placed before us.

In Jesus name, amen.