Thanks Be To God Series

The comedian Joe E. Brown lost his son in World War II. Captain Don Brown was a

handsome and healthy strong boy with a quick mind and a flair for leadership. He was

student president at UCLA, and student Colonel of ROTC. He was an ideal boy, and as far

as father was concerned, the sun rose and set on him. An enemy sabotaged his plane and he

crashed to his death. When his father received the word he was performing in Detroit. Here

he was as a professional funny man who had to make people laugh when his own heart was

broken.

He rebelled and doubted, not only God's love, but his very existence. For 20 hours he

wondered in a dark cloud. He wondered out to the airport where he saw 10 boys in uniform

in the same outfit his boy was with. It started him thinking of their parents who loved them

as he loved Don. He saw them as boys far form home, and often lonely, and ill, and his heart

went out to them. He felt he should give these boys all of the laughs he could pack into an

hour.

He not only went on with the show, but he began to perform at camps all over the world. His

schedule was so furious that he developed a severe case of sciatica. He insisted on

keeping his schedule, however, even though he had to be carried from place to place in an

ambulance. One night on Christmas Island he gazed out over a sea of faces, and he was just

busting to give them more fun than any man could possibly give.

He went into an act that included a crazy dance he use to do in Vaudeville and kept them

howling with glee. When it was over and he stood mopping his brow he suddenly realized his

pain was gone, and it was gone for good. He had been healed in his zealous act of serving

others by cheering their hearts in sorrowful circumstances. He said, "I don't know what

faith is or how you get it, but one thing I am sure of, I trust God with my whole life." His

heart was grateful for two things: For what God did for him, and for what did through him.

This is an experience in the secular world that is a parallel of Paul's experience in the

ministry of the Gospel.

In verse 12 Paul says that he came to Troas to preach and the door was wide open. The

opportunity was there, and the prospects for success were excellent. But he says in verse 13

that he had no rest in his spirit. He had no peace of mind, but was restless and full of

anxiety. In spite of the ideal setting Paul was not in an ideal state of mind to buy up the

opportunity. Here is an honest man of God telling it like it is. He had an open door, but he

just didn't feel up to entering it.

Titus was suppose to meet him there with a report from Corinth, but he didn't show up.

Paul was almost out of his mind with anxiety over the church at Corinth. They had many

problems, and Paul had written his first letter to them and try and resolve some of them. He

knew that there were critics in the church who were opposed to him. They were trying to get

the church to reject his leadership and authority. They said he really didn't care for them,

and so Paul is writing this letter to make it clear just how much he does care. He tells of all

the suffering he had to endure on their behalf. He tells of such strong anxiety over their

state when he did not hear from Titus it was so strong that he could not concentrate on his

ministry, and he had to move on until he found Titus.

Paul could not work in a state of mind in which he was uncertain about what was

happening in a touchy situation like Corinth. The torture of suspense was too great and it

robbed him of his power to work and preach effectively. Many people feel that it is not

worthy of a Christian to be so emotionally disturbed and worried about things that they

cannot control, but such people are more interested in idealistic fantasies then in real

Christian people. No person can claim to be more Christ like, or more committed to Christ

than Paul, and he gives his personal testimony to the fact that his mind was so restless that he

could not be an effective preacher until he knew how the Corinthian Christians had

responded to his letter. Therefore, he left a promising field and went to Macedonia in search