Thursday - The Lord Stood With Me

2 Timothy 4:7 – I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

II Timothy 4:9-18 – “9 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: 10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. 12 And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. 13 The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: 15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. 16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. 17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Near the end of his life, the Apostle Paul could say, "I have finished my course" (2 Timothy 4:7). From the moment of his conversion to the day he would receive his crown, Paul remained faithful. Through persecution, trials, and difficulties, he didn't waver.

But don't imagine that finishing was easy for him. Right after Paul says, "I have finished my course," he tells Timothy what he's been going through.

When people walk away.

• His friend Demas had forsaken him, "having loved this present world" (v. 10).
• Alexander the coppersmith did him "much evil" (v. 14).
• "Only Luke is with me," he writes (v. 11).

Then he describes his first trial:


When Paul stood to answer the charges against him, no one stood beside him in support. He was deserted. He had nobody.

But despite that, he remained faithful.

How?

That's the question, isn't it? How do you keep going when the people you counted on are gone? Paul tells us in the very next verse:


People had abandoned him. But the Lord hadn't.

That's what Timothy needed to remember. The Lord who strengthened Paul could strengthen him too.

The same Lord.

Paul's testimony isn't supposed to make us think, "I could never be as strong as him." It reminds us that we can depend on the same Lord who strengthened him.

Maybe you feel alone in what you're carrying today. Maybe people you expected to stand with you didn't. Maybe you're the only one in your family, your office, or your classroom trying to follow Jesus.

You are not as alone as you feel. God has promised:

You may feel overwhelmed by what God has for you to do. But you don't have to face it in your own strength. Faithfulness is possible, because the Lord stands with you.

Keep going.