"A Great Gift" (Part 1)

It is God who saved us and chose us to live a holy life. He did this not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan long before the world began – to show his love and kindness to us through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the coming of Christ Jesus, our Savior, who broke the power of death and showed us the way to everlasting life through the Good News. And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News. And that is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. As you know, all the Christians who came here from the province of Asia have deserted me; even Phygelus and Hermogenes are gone. May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in prison. When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me. May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ's return. And you know how much he helped me at Ephesus. (2 Timothy 1:9-12; 15-18 NLV)

There are so many common experiences that the Lord has used to teach me very uncommon principles of truth. When my oldest son was very young we lived in a parsonage that was located on the edge of the Davy Crockett National Forest. All we needed to do in order to take a very long walk in the woods was to cross the fence. One afternoon he and I decided to take such a walk. Not far into the woods we spotted a deer. Following it as quietly as possible we strayed further than I had intended and lost our way. The sun was beginning to set and we needed to return home as quickly as possible. Rather than wander in the woods trying to find some familiar marker, I knew that if I walked for a little while to the west we would soon come to a road. When we did come to the road I knew we were still a long way home. So, putting Kyle on my shoulders I stuck out my thumb to hitch a ride back to town the long way around. Several cars passed and Kyle asked why they didn’t stop to give us a ride. Before I could give an adequate response, he said, “I guess they don’t know who we are, do they dad?” I learned a marvelous lesson from that simple statement. All of us need others at some point in our lives. We all need a friend! This is certainly the point of Paul’s remarks to Timothy in his letter to the young pastor. The desire for friendship goes hand in hand with accepting the reality of God in life!

One of the great gifts given to us is the opportunity to be known by someone. The reason the world has difficulty accepting that there is a God in this world is because they are alone. In a day and age where people evaluate each other by what they know, God has revealed to men and women the privilege of being known by someone! In the next few days we’ll look at the great gift God is offering to all of us through a relationship with Him.

First, we can be known by God. In the throws of hardship, the one thing that Paul seizes upon more than anything else is that God knows him. In essence, Paul is saying, I am possibly in the worst time of my life but I am not ashamed, I am not defeated, because the reason for my existence isn’t my shameful situation, my own mind, my own strength, my difficulty, my own confusion and trouble, but God himself who has made himself known to me is my reason for living. It may be a particularly difficult time for you right now, but what God has given to us, the opportunity to know that He knows us, the gift of the Spirit; there is your strength! There is your hope! I encourage you today to know that God knows you. All the hair on your head is numbered; God is deeply passionate about you! Listen to Paul again: “…for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.” You are not alone. God is with you!