2 Timothy 3:10-11, God has never let me down

As we have studied the writings of the Apostle Paul for almost two years now it is amazing the things that he had to endure for the sake of his relationship with Jesus. Shipwrecked, beaten, stoned, bitten by poisonous snakes, homeless, hungry, hated and reviled by his own people just to name a few things. All these things are horrible in themselves but all of them happening to the same guy is what we could call a rough life. Through all of this it is amazing that he never once felt let down or abandoned by God. 2 Timothy is the last letter that Paul would write and here in chapter three he says these things happening wasn’t God letting him down, instead it was God rescuing him. Verse 11 says that through all the persecutions and sufferings, God always rescued him. He was never forsaken or alone, simply trusting in God to come through in time, on time, every time.

If we could all only get a hold of the kind of faith that Paul had, he never let his circumstances sway his faith in God. Many times, we question where God is when bad things happen in our lives and why God would abandon us in those moments or remove His hedge of protection. I am reminded of the famous artwork “Footprints in the sand.” It is an instance of an individual speaking with God and look back on their life experiences? As they looked back, they noticed that during the tough times in their life there was only one set of footprints in the sand, so they asked God, “why did you leave me then?” God simply looked at them and said I didn’t leave you during those times, those are the times I was carrying you. A beautiful illustration of how God rescues us from our turmoil; something that Paul knew and understood and something we should as well.