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If someone were to
write a biography of your life story, what would be
written? What would you want future generations to
remember about your life? Of course we would want nice
things written about us, how we impacted our family, or
how we earned a living. Maybe we would want our church
involvement mentioned. “She was a Sunday school teacher
for over 30 years.” Imagine the impact someone would
have on several generations of children. Or, “He served
his church faithfully for twenty five years,” and then
list the committees and boards that person served.
Would we want to be
remembered for our struggles, or when we were unsure
about our faith? In reading several biographies this
year, I discovered that noteworthy people also had
struggles. Knowing that a particular person experienced
trials and tribulations yet remained strong in the faith
inspires me to continue living out my faith. Jesus never
said it would be easy. There will be days when not
everything comes together as we wish it would. There
will be days when we are ready to walk away—the struggle
has become too great. It was not easy for the disciples
and it certainly has not gotten any easier for us living
today. Through it all Jesus promises that even through
the darkest days he will be present with us. Jesus
continues to give each one of us the strength we need to
make it through every day!
The life of the Apostle
Paul continues to captivate us today. We have a sense
of who Paul was, his joys and struggles through his many
writings. Paul was a Pharisee known as Saul who took
it upon himself to persecute believers. His goal was to
rid the world of believers. He was fearless in his
attacks against the church. Believers were afraid of
him. His life changed one day on his way to Damascus.
The mighty religious leader was left helpless, unable to
see for three days. He had to be led by the hand into
the city. Saul the Pharisee became Paul the great
missionary. Paul would travel the ancient world
starting churches in many cities. God is in the
business of changing peoples’ hearts and ultimately the
direction of their lives.
Our lesson from Second
Timothy is Paul’s last will and testament. Paul is
older; he knows that his next trip might result in his
death. He openly shared his thoughts with his young
friend, Timothy. Now through the lens of time he looks
back on his life’s journey. He now realizes that it was
when he surrendered his life to Christ that his life
changed forever. “I am already being poured out as a
libation,” he writes.
Our walk with Christ
begins at the point when we say “it is no longer my will
but your will be done in my life.” That first step is
hard for many people. We would like to think that we
are the ones in control, that we are calling the shots.
As long as we remain head strong we will never
experience the joy of following Jesus. Paul’s adventure
began once he was able to submit his will to Christ. “I
am yours, O Lord, use me,” we pray. And Jesus is able
to accomplish amazing feats through us, but only when we
are able to surrender all to him.
Looking back over his
life Paul is able to summarize, “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith.” Throughout his writings Paul uses the image of
an athletic. In living out his faith, he was like a
wrestler who fought well, and a runner who ran well.
The athletic plays to win, the wrestler desires to win
the match, the runner strives to come in first. The
athletic spends many hours training for the match or
race. The same can be said of our faith, we spend hours
in training, reading our Bibles, praying, serving
others, seeking God’s will for our lives. We give our
time to serve others in the name of Jesus. Like the
athletic trains, it takes effort on our parts. Many of
us miss the point—we are in this race to win! We expect
to finish in first place! Too often in our faith we
just want to get by with the minimum amount of effort on
our part. We think that if we come to church when we
feel like it, or serve others only when we have nothing
better to do, or only read our Bibles when we cannot
sleep, or pray only when we want God to intervene in
some way—that that is enough. That is all that is
required of us. Jesus Christ desires and expects our
best effort. We enter the race expecting to win! So
like Paul at the end of our lives we too will receive
“the crown of righteousness.” We have kept the faith!
Paul experienced more
than his fair share of hardships in his life. He
recalls that he was shipwrecked, stoned, arrested,
dragged out of town and left for dead. All this
happened to him because of his faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul was willing to stand up for what he believed. It
was never easy for Paul and I suspect the same is true
for us. Through it all Paul kept his faith.
He tells his young
friend, Timothy, of the time he stood trial and all his
friends and supporters deserted him in his time of
need. “My first defense no one came to my support, but
all deserted me” the apostle recalls. No one would want
what happened to Paul to happen to them. His friends
did not want to be too closely identified with him.
They deserted him in his hour of need. Years have
passed since that day as Paul reflects on that
experience. No doubt at the time Paul was disappointed
with his friends. He might even have been angry with
them for leaving him. However, Paul held no grudge,
held no animosity toward them, he writes, “May it not be
counted against them!”
Paul discovered an
important truth in his life that he willingly passes on
to Timothy and to us as well. Even though his friends
deserted him, and it appeared that he stood alone—the
Lord Jesus was with him. He received strength directly
from the Lord Jesus. His faith was strengthened because
he knew that Jesus was with him through the most trying
times in his life. Listen to Paul’s words, “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.” Jesus was not through with
Paul. And Jesus who began a good work in each one of us
is not through with us either!
At those times when
everything seems to be crumbling at our feet, be strong
knowing that Jesus is with us, giving us the strength we
need to get through the day. There are times when the
tasks set before us seems too great—that we will never
accomplish our goals. Other times it seems that we will
not even make it through the day. At those times know
that Jesus is with us.
Paul went to trial, his
friends deserted him, but Jesus gave him the strength
and he triumphed. Paul writes of that experience as
being “rescued from the lion's mouth.” No doubt Paul
was recalling the Old Testament story of Daniel in the
Lion’s Den. To the observer it appeared that the lion
would devour and kill Daniel. But God kept him safe;
God rescued Daniel from the lion’s mouth. With the
confidence of many years of faith Paul writes, “The Lord
will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for
his heavenly kingdom.”
In early 2006 ABC
co-anchor Bob Woodruff traveled to Iraq for a story. At
the time his wife, Lee, and their children were at
Disney World. Early one morning the call came from the
president of ABC News telling that Bob had been
seriously injured.
Lee immediately left
the hotel room needing time alone to process the news.
She claims that she wanted to shout to God, “Why us?”
She remembered the time when she fell into depression
following a miscarriage. “My faith had pulled me
thought and I was a stronger person for it.” Back at
the hotel she told the children that their father was
injured.
The family returned
home to New York. Hours later Lee left for Germany
where Bob was being treated. They received support from
family and friends who stepped up to care for the
children.
When Lee arrived in
Germany she learned the extent of her husband’s injury.
A roadside bomb had driven shrapnel into his head. His
recovery would late a long time she was told. As word
of his injury spread people began praying for Bob’s
recovery.
Earlier this year Lee
wrote of their experience. Bob “had the best medical
treatment possible, and were blessed with the finest
doctors and therapists,” she writes. “But the most
important thing turned out to be all those prayers that
held us closer. I found that my faith was deepened by
the fact, and that gave me strength, a greater strength
than I’d ever known,” (1)
Knowing that the Lord
Jesus is with us every step of the way and will rescue
us from evil gives us the confidence we need to continue
living out our faith. Paul offers his own life
experiences as an example to inspire and encourage
Timothy, as well as each one of us.
As we look back over
our lives may each of us say alongside of Paul, “I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith.”
Amen.
1. “Held Together” Lee Woodruff,
Guideposts, June 2007, pp 47-52
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