Grief to Repentance

God Instructs the People of God

Listening for God in Changing Times:

Return to Obedience

2 Corinthians 7:5-11

The Message

 ^5-7When we arrived in Macedonia province, we couldn't settle down. The fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn't relax because we didn't know how it would turn out. Then the God who lifts up the downcast lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus. We were glad just to see him, but the true reassurance came in what he told us about you: how much you cared, how much you grieved, how concerned you were for me. I went from worry to tranquility in no time!
 ^8-9I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don't feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I'm glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.
 ¹⁰Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.
 ^11-13And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That's what happened—and we felt just great

For Reflection
Most often we see distress in our lives as a bad thing.  To be sure, experiencing distressful times are not easy, sometimes painful.  However, distress points to the differences between what is and what ought to be.  It marks a period of great growth potential.  It is in the path to resolution that we find God: listening, suffering, and guiding us to a more intimate relationship with Him. 

Pray
for hope in times of distress. Pray that you will find a quiet place in the midst of turmoil to listen to the guiding whispers of God.  Pray to find the courage to follow God's call.