Aspects of Loneliness
DESERTED BY FRIENDS! - 2 Timothy Chapter 4 Verses 14 - 17
There has probably never been a Christian who has experienced such power and blessing in his ministry and walk with the Lord as the Apostle Paul. He was the man who could write: "I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." On another occasion hewrote: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us."
Surely a man like that, with such a record could never experience loneliness, the topic we are looking at in these studies from the Bible? He would rise above the circumstance without so much as a care in the world! Yet, when we read his final letter, which he wrote to Timothy shortly before they came to execute him, we discover that he not only knew what it was to be lonely, but it was obviously a very bitter experience. We will look at the second letter to Timothy chapter 4, verses 14 to 17, and we will see Distress, Desertion and Deliverance.
Distress
"Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm!" Is this the great Apostle Paul writing these words? Yes, and I wonder what deep feelings of hurt lie behind them. Paul is writing from prison, and in verse 6 of the same chapter he tells us very clearly that he hasn't long to live. "The time has come for my departure", he writes. He can almost hear the iron heel of the Roman soldier at his cell door, coming to take him to his execution. If ever there was a time when he needed his friends it was just then, yet Alexander, who in Acts chapter 19 had professed to be his friend, not only fails to support him, but does him a great deal of harm. The phrase could be translated: "Did me much evil."
This was almost certainly the same man who is mentioned in chapter 1 of Paul's first letter to Timothy, when he mentioned him as one of those who had rejected his teaching, and had shipwrecked his faith. That is often where the real trouble starts, by doubting, then disbelieving, and finally denying the Word of God, and it always leads to a shipwrecked faith!
Perhaps, like Paul, you are facing difficulties, even danger, and the very Christians, who you thought would support and help you are, instead, "doing you much harm." You just can't understand it! Has God failed you? Has He forgotten you? Has He deserted you? No! The failure of those who profess to serve and love Him must never cause us to blame God. Listen carefully to this message, for there is light at the end of the tunnel; there is "good news as well as bad news." Paul was feeling the full force of the enemy's punches but he didn't throw in the towel! He was made of sterner stuff!
Christian friend, feeling bruised and buffeted and battered by the opposition, with loneliness gripping your heart and fear gnawing right into your soul, don't let Satan win. Open your heart to the Holy Spirit as He brings you God's Word, and let it bring you healing and refreshment.
But before we have the "good news", there is further "bad news&quo t;, for in verse 16 we see...
Desertion
Paul writes, " Everyone deserted me!" Here is the greatest missionary of all time who, under God's hand, has been the means of blessing to thousands of Christians, facing a new experience of total desertion. Not one Christian standing with him! Totally alone! He actually wrote, "No-one came to my support, but everyone deserted me." What an experience for a man who was used to being surrounded and supported by men and women who loved the Lord!
No doubt in his loneliness Paul remembered that his Lord had also experienced desertion and loneliness, so he should be ready to put up with the same treatment. If you feel that your friends are deserting you just when youneed them, then be comforted by the thought that your Lord passed through the same experience Himself, and can fully understand and sympathise.
It is very important for us to remember this as we look at our final point...
Deliverance
Just when Paul felt he could take no more; just when he thought that the bottom had fallen out of his world. Just when his last friend had deserted him and he was desperately lonely, it was then he was able to write, "BUT the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength." No doubt he would remember earlier times in his life when the Lord stepped in at the right moment and supplied his need. When he suffered from a thorn in the flesh and pleaded with the Lord to remove it, but it seemed as though the skies were brass, and God wasn't listening. Then God brought peace to his heart with the strong word of comfort and provision, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
What joy had filled his heart as he experienced the warmth and fellowship of the Lord's presence, and he could write "I delight in weaknesses...for when I am weak then am I strong." Now, once again, his Lord has met his deep, personal need, and he is able to testify to the personal presence of his Lord. Weymouth translates it "The Lord filled me with inward strength" and another version puts it "The Lord stood with me and gave me power."
You may be facing loneliness or desertion by friends right now. Well, be encouraged, for the Apostle Paul was not being singled out for special treatment. Just as from his heartache and pain came the joyful experience of knowing the power and strength of the Lord, so you, too, can draw from the same wonderful resources. This was the same Paul who prayed that the Ephesian Christians would be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in their inner beings.
Now you may ask the question, "How can I enter into this experience?" Is there some secret formula? Do I have to be a super Christian, without sin in my life in order to know the presence of the Lord in this vital and living way? Thank God, the answer is no! Of course the Lord does desire our holiness, and commands us to repent of all known sin. We are commanded to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, even if we don't see eye to eye with them! That is not the basis on which we can know the Lord's presence; it cannot be earned; it is all of God's grace.
The Apostle John puts it simply in his first letter, "Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." Then he adds: "If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." The message is clear: our responsibility is to seek to live in the light of God's Word - reading it and obeying it with God's help. Then we will move from loneliness into the light and love of His presence and strength. May you know His presence with you day by day.