God’s Encouragement of Paul in Corinth

PAUL IN CORINTH (Acts 18:1-17)
While skills and opportunities are important, you need motivation to succeed. You can grow in motivation, using the means God has provided. Discouragement destroys motivation and in turn destroys success.
Paul was discouragment because the church was needing to stand up against a sinful culture, because of factions and infighting involving lawsuits, because of doctrinal confusion, and because of sexual immorality. The reviling in the synagogue would have been discouraging too.
Three ways God stepped in to encourage Paul.
We know Paul was discouraged and wanting to stop the work in Corinth, because of the vision God sent.
God knows how to encourage His children, and in the case of Paul in Corinth, He did it in three ways.
1. FRIENDSHIPS: Paul seems to have gone to Corinth alone. Comradeship is important. Pastors are not meant to be alone. Eccl 4:9-12. Paul finds friends. Aquila and Priscilla. Paul learned that God would supply all his needs including teammates. Christian friends are very important. Or could it be that you are the Aquila and Priscilla for someone else who is discouraged.
2. FRUITFULNESS: After he leaves the synagogue, he walks next door and starts a church, with the ruler of the synagogue becoming a Christian. Many believed and were baptised. God decrees that we will be fruitful. (John 15:2, 5, 8, 16). Not every Christian bears the same fruit. But we will all produce fruit.
3. FOREKNOWLEDGE: Just like Joshua was encouraged (Josh 1:5-6), Paul was clearly told 'I am with you, you won't come to harm, and there are many elect in the city.'
Every Christian is promised that God will be with us. Every Christian is promised that ultimately, we will stand before God safe.
The third part of the promise also applies to Christians, who can safely assume that the world still has elect who have not yet been united with the Father. 2Pet3, Rom 11:25.
Eventually the new synagogue leader Sosthenus tried to get Paul in trouble but ended up getting beaten up. But if we read 1 Cor 1:1, we see that he coauthors the epistle to Corinth. Obviously, he was one of the elect of God. Many of those who fight the faith may in fact be elect.
Be encouraged.