In This Together / ODB

 

In This Together At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. 2 Timothy 4:16 READ 2 Timothy 4:9–22 Kelly was battling brain cancer when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Then fluid developed around her heart and lungs, and she had to be hospitalized again. Her family couldn’t visit because of the pandemic. Her husband, Dave, vowed to do something. Gathering loved ones together, Dave asked them to make large signs with messages. They did. Wearing masks, twenty people stood on the street outside the hospital holding signs: “Best Mom!” “Love You.” “We are with u.” With the help of a nurse, Kelly made her way to a fourth-floor window. “All we could see was a facemask and a waving hand,” her husband posted on social media, “but it was a beautiful facemask and waving hand.” Late in his life, the apostle Paul felt alone as he languished in a Roman prison. He wrote to Timothy, “Do your best to get here before winter” (2 Timothy 4:21). Yet Paul wasn’t totally alone. “The Lord stood at my side and gave me strength,” he said (v. 17). And it’s also apparent that he had some encouraging contact with other believers. “Eubulus greets you,” he said to Timothy, “and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers and sisters” (v. 21). We’re created for community, and we feel that most keenly when we’re in crisis. What might you do for someone who may feel entirely alone today?   By Tim Gustafson When have you felt most alone? How have you sensed God’s presence during times of separation from loved ones? Thank You, dear Father, for the gift of Your Spirit’s comfort, and for the community of believers You’ve brought into my life.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Second Timothy, Paul’s final letter, was written from prison (2 Timothy 2:9). While we don’t know the specific details of his imprisonment, the apostle’s situation was severe—he seemed to believe his death was imminent (4:6–7). This context contributes to the urgent tone throughout this letter. Paul felt deeply the need to communicate to his protégé Timothy a clear vision of faithfulness to Jesus and the gospel amid suffering—and to warn against abandoning the gospel for the world’s comforts (v. 10). Paul hoped he would see Timothy again (v. 21), perhaps for the last time. Monica La Rose