2 Corinthians 9:2

For I know your readiness, of which I glory on your behalf to them of Macedonia, that Achaia hath been prepared for a year past; and your zeal hath stirred up very many of them.

Your readiness ... does not mean that the promised contribution had actually been prepared, but that they had been prompt to promise their full cooperation. Furthermore, as Plumptre observed:

The urgency of Paul's present appeal indicates a latent misgiving whether he had unconsciously overstated the fact, and had mistaken the "will" that had showed itself for an actual readiness to send the money when it

was called for.[8]

It would have been a permanent disgrace to the Corinthians if, after being held up as an example to others, they themselves should have fallen short.