Scripture Daily

Context No. 1755 of 4322 · 1 Corinthians

Context · Reflection

1 Corinthians 16:1-9: in context

1Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise. 2On the first day of every week, let each one of you save as he may prosper, that no collections are made when I come. 3When I arrive, I will send whoever you approve with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem. 4If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me. 5I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia. 6But with you it may be that I will stay with you, or even winter with you, that you may send me on my journey wherever I go. 7For I do not wish to see you now in passing, but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits. 8But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost, 9for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Paul turns to practical matters at the close of his letter: the collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem, to be gathered steadily, each setting aside a sum on the first day of every week; and his own travel plans, hoping to spend time with the Corinthians. He will stay at Ephesus a while longer, he says, and he gives his reason: a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

That last sentence holds together two things we might expect to be opposites: a wide door of opportunity, and many adversaries. Paul does not say he will stay because the way is easy and welcoming; he says he will stay because a great door for fruitful work has opened, and, in the same breath, that there are many who oppose him. The open door and the opposition come together. This is worth noticing, because we often assume that opposition is a sign the door is closed, that if a path is right and God is in it, it will be smooth, and resistance means we should turn back. Paul's experience says otherwise. Here the very place where a wide and effective door has opened is also the place of many adversaries; the opportunity and the opposition are found together, and the opposition is no reason to abandon the open door. In fact, significant open doors often come with significant opposition; the more fruitful the opportunity, the more it may be resisted. So the presence of adversaries is not, by itself, evidence that we have missed God's will or that the door is shut. Paul stayed precisely where the opposition was, because that was where the open door was too. There is encouragement here for anyone facing resistance in a path they believe God has opened. The adversaries do not necessarily mean the door is closed; they may simply mean the work is worth opposing. Like Paul, we may need to press through the opposition rather than retreat from it, staying at the open door even though, or precisely because, it is contested.

When I face opposition in a path I believe God has opened, do I take the adversaries as proof the door is closed and turn back, or can I learn from Paul, who stayed where a wide door had opened even though there were many adversaries, that opposition is not the same as a closed door, and press through rather than retreat?

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