“The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you” (Titus 1:5).

Crete was not an easy place in which to minister. Paul acknowledged that in this letter to Titus. “One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ This saying is true” (Titus 1:12-13a).

It may be that Titus was concerned about the difficult challenges he was facing in Crete. Paul’s response was something like this: “Titus, you are right about the Cretans. They are liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons. I know it’s not an easy place to live and minister. But Crete needs help and that’s why I left you there.”

There are times when any of us realize that we are in a place with deep needs. We look at the values of the culture around us and know we don’t share them. We see individuals who are broken spiritually and morally and we realize the challenging task we face in reaching them. Yet, that’s why we’re here. God has a plan for the world in which we live and has enlisted us to help finish what He started. Certainly there are challenges wherever we are, but we are privileged that God has called on us to assist Him.

I understand what Paul was saying to Titus as God’s word to each of us. “The reason I left you [wherever we are] was that you might put in order what was left unfinished.”