“Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus” (2 Corinthians 7:6).

Paul took a ministry trip to Troas where he was to be joined by his spiritual son Titus. He longed to see his godly son in Christ and knew his spirits would be lifted by his presence. Yet after Paul arrived in Troas, Titus didn’t show up.

Doors of ministry opened for Paul in Troas, but the apostle’s heart had grown heavy as he waited for the arrival of Titus. Paul wrote of the experience, “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 … [so] I departed for Macedonia” (2 Corinthians 2:12-13).

Paul did something he had never done in his life, something that was contrary to everything he preached; he walked away and wandered restlessly to Macedonia. What a picture of a wounded soldier of the cross. The great apostle was beaten down in mind, body and spirit. Why? What had brought Paul to such a point? The apostle himself explains it. “I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother.” He was alone, and he desperately needed fellowship.

Satan always comes to attack us when we are weary from battle. That is when we are most vulnerable to his lies, and the enemy might have buffeted Paul with two vicious ones: “Titus hasn’t come because he has rejected you” or “Titus isn’t here because you are no longer effective, Paul. Your ministry is simply not bearing fruit.”

If you have walked in intimacy with the Lord, you know very well what Paul was facing. Satan is the father of lies, and right now he may be sending you similar lies. “Everyone has rejected you. You have no place in God’s kingdom work. You’re just taking up space.”

Titus made it to Macedonia, and he arrived with a refreshing spirit. Paul’s heart was uplifted as the two men fellowshipped, and he wrote, “I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all [my] tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).

God uses people to refresh people! Today, look for an opportunity to be a Titus to someone who is downcast in spirit. Perhaps a simple phone call will bring consolation and refreshing to a brother or sister in Christ and result in healing of spirit.

“Hezekiah … did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered” (2 Chronicles 31:20-21).

In so many words, Scripture is saying that Hezekiah was the greatest king Israel ever had. We are told that his heart was so set on the Lord that no king before or after him was like him. Then consider the very next verse: “After these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities thinking to win them over to himself” (32:1).

Note the opening phrase: “After these deeds of faithfulness …” This refers to all the good that Hezekiah had done: his walk of truth and holiness; his seeking of God; his cleaving to the Lord; his fight against sin and compromise; his deep prayer and trust; the national revival he led. In the wake of these blessed things, Scripture says, then the devil came in. Principalities and powers of darkness surrounded the righteous king and God’s people, waging an all-out war to bring them down and destroy their faith.

Yes, this all came about after the establishment of Hezekiah’s many ministries, which were stable, mature, well-grounded. Satan wasn’t wasting his powers on a weak, inexperienced, wavering child of God; he was aiming his most intense weapons at a spiritual giant. This godly man wasn’t living in sin or rebellion; he was one of God’s most faithful servants. And yet, virtually overnight, Hezekiah found himself in an impossible situation. And the Lord did not explain why this terrible siege had befallen him.

In Hezekiah, we see a clear illustration of the devil’s plan against every devoted servant of God. In our own times of trial and temptation, Satan comes to us bringing lies: “You’re a failure, otherwise you wouldn’t be going through this. There’s something wrong with you and God is displeased.” The Bible tells us that God supernaturally delivered Hezekiah (see 1 Kings 19:35). And ever since the cross of Christ, God’s people have had even better promises than Hezekiah had.

Remember, pray, even in silence, and refuse to fear Satan’s attacks. God himself will deal with your enemy, and he will work his plan to deliver you!

The healings Christ performed were instantaneous, visible to those who were present. “He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ And he arose and departed to his house” (Matthew 9:6-7). The crippled man with the gnarled body lying by the pool of Bethesda suddenly had an outward, physical change so that he could run and leap (see John 5:5-8). This was a miracle that had to astonish and move all who saw it. Another instantaneous miracle!

The feedings that Christ did were progressive. He offered up a simple prayer of blessing, then broke the bread and the dried fish, never giving a sign or a sound that a miracle was taking place. Yet, to feed that many people, there had to be thousands of breakings of that bread and those fish, all throughout the day. And every single piece of bread and fish was a part of the miracle.

This is just how Jesus performs many of his miracles in people’s lives today. We pray for instantaneous, visible wonders, but often our Lord is quietly at work, performing a miracle piece by piece, bit by bit. We may not be able to hear it or touch it, but he is at work, shaping our deliverance beyond what we can see.

You may be in the middle of a miracle right now and simply not be seeing it. You’re discouraged because you don’t see any evidence of God’s supernatural work on your behalf. David said, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears” (Psalm 18:6).

Think of one difficulty you are facing right now, your greatest need, your most troubling problem. You’ve prayed about it for so long. Do you really believe the Lord can and will work it out in ways you can’t conceive? That kind of faith commands the heart to quit fretting or asking questions. It tells you to rest in the Father’s care, trusting him to do it all in his way and time.

Have you ever been so overwhelmed by circumstances that you cried out to God, “Lord, help me! I don’t know how to pray just now, so hear the cry of my heart. Deliver me from this situation!”

At times we can only stand still and know that the Lord is our Deliverer. I believe this is exactly what David went through when he was captured by the Philistines. The psalmist wrote: “My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad” (Psalm 34:2).

David is saying here, in essence, “I have something to tell all of God’s humble people on earth, now and in ages to come. As long as this world exists, the Lord will deliver everyone who calls out to him and trusts him. In his incredible mercy and love, he delivered me, even though I made a very foolish move.”

God will send an angel, if he chooses, or even a host of them, to surround you and keep you from danger. Even if you acted foolishly or had a terrible failure of faith, you only need to get back to calling on your Deliverer. He is faithful to hear your cry and to act.

We see many accounts of miracle throughout the Bible. God miraculously delivered Noah, Lot, David, Hezekiah, Daniel, the three Hebrew children, Moses, Joshua, Israel, Joseph and multitudes more. As for God’s people today, Christ’s blood has delivered us from sin, destruction and much more: “[He] gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:4).

Ever since the cross, God’s people have had even better promises than any of those listed above. Believers today stand not just on a promise but also on the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And in that blood we have victory over every sin, temptation and battle we will ever face.

Do you believe God has the foreknowledge to anticipate your every trial? Your every foolish move? Your every doubt and fear? If so, you have the example of David before you, who prayed, “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him” (Psalm 34:6).

Don’t hesitate to cry out to your loving heavenly Father at any time. He longs to hear from you and meet your need.

Jesus came to earth as a man, God in flesh, so he could feel our pain, be tempted and tried as we are, and show us the Father. Scripture calls Jesus the express image (meaning, the exact likeness) of God. He is the same essence and substance of God the Father (“being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” [Hebrews 1:3]). In short, he is “the same as” the Father in all ways.

To this very day, Jesus Christ is the face of God on earth. And because of him, we have uninterrupted fellowship with the Father. Through the cross, we have the privilege of “seeing his face,” of touching him. We can even live as he did, testifying, “I don’t do anything except as I see and hear it from the Lord.”

“When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to you, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek’” (Psalm 27:8). God gave that answer to David when that godly man was surrounded by a host of idolators. Today, when God says, “Seek my face,” his words have more implications than at any other time in history.

As lovers of the blood-stained Christ of Calvary, seeking him must become our single, all-consuming desire in life. Our one mission is to be in continual, uninterrupted communion with the Christ of glory — to seek and inquire in his Word of the beauty of Jesus, until we know him, and he becomes our full satisfaction.

We do all this for one purpose: that we may be like him! That we may become his express image so that those who seek the true Christ will see him in us. All evangelism, all soul-winning, all missions outreaches are in vain unless we behold Jesus’ face and are continually changed into his image. No soul can be touched except by such Christians. And Jesus has called us to reflect his face to a lost world that is confused about who he is.

As we see things around us becoming more and more chaotic, the Holy Spirit whispers, “Don’t despair! You know how all of this is going to end. The heavens are going to open, and the King of kings and Lord of lords will appear.”

Every knee shall bow on that day when we behold his face!