2 Corinthians 2:12-17
New International
Version (NIV)
12 Now when I went to Troas
to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for
me, 13 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.
14 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. 15 For we are to God the
pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are
perishing. 16 To the one we are an
aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is
equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do
not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak
before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.
I
am not a big believer in just sitting down and asking God to show me what He
wants me to read, closing my eyes and opening the Bible but that is what I did
today. I know that God knows my heart
better than anyone else and I have been pouring it out to Him. He actually knows my heart better than I know
it myself. I sit here confused in what I
think is my desires and wondering if my desires match God’s desires. I wonder if the choices I made were truly from
Him or my own selfish wants. I struggle
with quitting things that I thought were His desire for me. I struggle with having someone tear me down
but wonder why others build me up. I can
get so stuck in the negative words of one person that I forget about the
positive words of many people. So, today,
I asked the Lord to help me find my answers and He brought me to this
passage. Oddly enough, I had it already
underlined but am not sure when I did it and maybe I have even written a blog
on it but today it is what I needed to hear.
This
is what God told me today. He told me
through this passage, that even Paul, in his ministry felt that God opened
doors for him. He went through those
doors but did not feel right, so he left.
This affirmed my recent decision to leave a place that I did not feel
the Spirit of God resting upon me. I
realized my fragrance there was not a fragrance of life. To some, we spread a fragrance of death
because some will not accept the fragrance of life that is offered to
them. In that case we may have some
times that although we want to spread a wonderful aroma we instead come off as
a nasty aroma. I have found myself in
that place. I began to doubt myself as
to whether I was a good Christian if unbelievers thought so negatively about
me. I was always taught to be kind, gentle,
and let my witness show not only in words but also in deeds. I felt that if others viewed me negatively
there must be something wrong with me. However,
once I left the negative environment, I had many people tell me of my value as
God’s child. I had confirmation that I
do not have a nasty aroma but one that is pleasing to those that know our Lord
and Savior and to those that are open to His salvation. If I can send a fragrant aroma to Him, the
One who saved me, that is all that really matters!!!!
This
scripture was perfect for me today. I
hope that it was for you as well. As we
seek Him daily, we find out how much He knows us and how much He loves us. Seek Him and know that He has all the answers
for you.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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