Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia. Now Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place (1 Corinthians 2:2 NJKV).
There were three main points in this passage of Scripture that stood out to me.
First of all, the Lord is the one who opens doors for us. We need to be willing to take some initiative (for example, Paul went to Troas to preach the gospel), but ultimately God is the one who opens the doors. Knowing this helps reduce the pressure on us. When it comes right down to it, none of us can force things to happen, but as we take the initiative to follow the Lord to the best of our ability, we can trust Him to open the right doors for us at the appropriate time.
Secondly, God always leads us to triumph. Think about this! In order for us to triumph, two things have to happen. God has to lead us to triumph, and, we have to follow! God can make the path clear for us and show us the direction to go, but unless we are willing to follow His lead by walking in obedience to Him and doing what He directs us to do, we can't expect to triumph.
Third, as we are led by Him, He diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. Have you ever noticed that different words for smells have different connotations? Some bring up lovely images and others make us shudder. For instance, the word, "odor" does not bring to the surface of our mind pleasant thoughts. But the word, "fragrance" has a sweetness about it. Have you ever walked into a room and noticed a wonderful fragrance that made you feel at home or relaxed? Our world is filled with beautiful fragrances that bring us much pleasure. Sweet fragrances are so vital to our well-being that a whole market has developed for aroma therapy prducts, and there are actually devices on the market that are intended to diffuse sweet fragrances throughout the room. But there is a certain sweet and compelling fragrance that can only come about one way -- as God opens doors for us and we obediently follow His lead there is a sweetness about us, a noticeable scent of the knowledge of Christ that spreads from us to others.
Father, we pray that You will indeed diffuse the fragrance of Your knowledge in every place. Help us to follow your lead so that we will triumph in You and also be able to share Your sweetness and the compelling fragrance of Your knowledge in every place. Amen.
Thought: What type of "smell" does your life produce? Are those around you impacted by the fragrant sweetness of the knowledge of Christ everywhere you go? Spend some time writing in your journal about this, or if you don't like to journal, spend some time in prayer on this matter.
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