December 15 Click on verses for Full Scripture	previous - - - - - - - - - - next
Today's Pathway: II Corinthians 11:28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

Yesterday we saw Paul recount many of the trials and persecutions that he faced in the ministry. If we look back at that list, we see that all of them, to one extent or another, are external. In other words, they are tribulations which affected him physically. I am sure that there was some mental turmoil that accompanied the physical pain, but when we consider beatings and shipwrecks and hunger and cold we normally think of them as impacting the body. In verse 28 Paul views them the same way, for he speaks of them as being "without", which means that they were on the outside of his body. He then mentions something which, in my opinion, impacted him in an even greater way: "the care of all the churches". I say this because Paul points out that he wasn't beaten every day, nor cold and hungry every day, but he was burdened with the needs of the churches every day of his life. He says that they "come upon" him. The word translated "come upon" is only used one other time in the Scriptures. In Acts 24:12 it is translated "raising up", and refers to an angry mob. Albert Barnes comments on this term:

"There is great force in the original here. The phrase rendered 'that which cometh upon me' means, properly, 'that which rushes upon me.' The word means, properly, a concourse, a crowd, hence a tumult; and the idea here is, that these cares rushed upon him, or pressed upon him like a crowd of men or a mob that bore all before it. This is one of Paul's most energetic expressions, and denotes the incessant anxiety of mind to which he was subject."

The use of the word "care" is important here as well. The root idea of the Greek term is "distraction". It comes from another Greek word which means "to part" (as in to break things apart) and is often translated "divide". The word only appears five other times in the New Testament, and four of those deal with things that would distract someone from their service to the Lord (Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:19; Luke 8:14; Luke 21:34). I believe that Paul's mind was consumed with the needs of the churches that he felt that he was responsible for. These needs did not distract him from serving the Lord, but they preyed upon his mind constantly. When we read his epistles we see him praying for these various congregations. He spends time dealing with their sin problems and also teaching them doctrines that they needed to know, and sometimes having to remind them of things that they should already have known. He tries to encourage them in their difficult times. He points out those who would turn the churches away from proper belief or practice. He answers questions that they sent to him. He rejoices with them and he weeps for them. If I can use this term, he worried about them. And, as anyone who has responsibility (particularly a spiritual responsibility) for others knows, that concern can be overwhelming and all consuming. It is worth noting that the last time the word "care" is used in the Bible, Peter writes that we as believers should be,

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (I Peter 5:7).

"Paul, as an apostle, had the care of all the churches lay on him. He mentions this last, as if this lay the heaviest upon him, and as if he could better bear all the persecutions of his enemies than the scandals that were to be found in the churches he had the oversight of."

Pray for those who are in spiritual leadership. They carry not only their own burdens, but the burdens of all to whom they minister.