2 Timothy 4:16-18 (NRSV)
At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them!
But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom.
To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1718
At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them!
But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom.
To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1718
It's a good thing to be protected sometimes.
Grown men don't often like to admit such a thing. We're supposed to be the protectors of our families and those we love.
But Paul gives us some great assurance in this passage...even when no one else will stand with us, we do not stand alone.
The Big Kid on the playground has our back.
Paul needed that assurance to do the courageous things in ministry that he accomplished. When you know the biggest guy that nobody can whip runs in your crowd, you get a little more brave.
He wasn't working without a net...though it was a net that had to be trusted by faith.
What would you do today if you knew that God protected you and that you would be ok?
The reality is that eventually, even Paul did die for his faith. Some could look at that fact with human "common sense" and say that he was wrong when he wrote the words of today's scripture. Obviously, God's protection must have run out.
That kind of thinking would be profoundly shortsighted.
Did God's protection fail anyone who ever died, or suffered tragedy? Absolutely not.
The best kind of protection of all...the real source of Paul's amazing strength...is knowing that God's protection supercedes anything that can befall us on this earth. God's love is before and beyond time, and his protection for us is an eternal promise.
Strength doesn't just mean "rescue from the lion's mouth," but it means that lion's mouth no longer holds the capacity to create fear within us.
That's a lifelong journey...but it's the great good news.
Prayer: Teach us to see those times in our lives when you have saved us and moved us from death to life. May we live as your redeemed and loved children in this world, thankful for every gift that you give us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.
Tomorrow's Scripture: Luke 18:9-14
2 comments:
Reading this made me think of a reason that people get mad at God. When friends/family pray for another to get well because of a sickness/trauma/ect and that person ends of dying the person that prayed for the healing gets mad at God for allowing something like that to happen...when all in all that might have been best for them....that may have been a stretch but hey that's what I was thinking.
I really like what you said about the lion's mouth no longer having the power to create fear in us. Thats powerful. And the bit you spoke about having the biggest kid on the playground on your side reminded me a scripture I have memorized (to a degree, because I have been unable to recall the version or verse), but its out of Psalm:
The Lord is my Defender; I shall not be defeated.
What greater comfort is there than knowing that the source of all strength is behind us all the way?
Post a Comment