Ever Been Let Down or Deserted by Others?
11/1 Reading Portions: 2 Kings 14; 2 Timothy 4; Hosea 7; Psalms 120-122
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11/1 Reading Portions: 2 Kings 14; 2 Timothy 4; Hosea 7; Psalms 120-122
2 Timothy 4:16At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!
STRENGTH
During Paul’s second Roman imprisonment, at his first trial, he stood alone. The Lord Jesus endured the desertion of all His friends the night He was arrested and stood at two illegal Jewish trials, a murderous Sanhedrin trial early the next morning, and three Roman trials on the day He was condemned to death. There will be times when we will experience this desolation and abandonment. There were others who royalty wanted dead besides Elijah (1 Ki 19:10). There were others who experienced a lion’s den besides Daniel (Dan 6); and others who had suffered the fiery furnace besides Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Dan 3). Times like these were made for the strengthening of our faith and trust in the Lord, as the apostle immediately points out in the following verse:
But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me... 2 Timothy 4:17
When these times arise, it is a blessing from the Lord so we may draw closer to Him and be more intimately acquainted with Him because we may share in the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil 3:10). Our trust in Christ grows to be more secure as we endure, for we may lift our eyes to the hills for help (Psa 121:1) and find that only one hill stands forever apart from all others— the hill of Golgatha, where our precious Lord was crucified. Yes, when deserted, when desolate, when abandoned by all others, with a faithful eye upon the atoning truth of Calvary’s cross, we may proclaim mightily with the psalmist,
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who promised He would never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5). Hallelujah! What a faithful Savior!
When we feel abandoned,
Deserted, by all others;
Christ is there, God’s only Son,
A Friend closer than a brother.