Being wrongly accused can be a tiresome and lonely situation. Paul had been wrongly accused and imprisoned when he wrote following account found in 2 Timothy 4:16-18. He said, "At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me." Surely there were those who still loved him and should have come to his defense. However, no one showed up, no one stood beside him during his time of trouble. He could have become angry and bitter toward them, but what did he do? He chose to pray for them; "May it not be held against them."

Paul said no one stood at his side during this season of trouble, but did he feel that he was alone during this time? No. He said, "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength." Why did the Lord give him strength? "So that through me the message might be fully proclaimed." You see, God knew that when times are good we have little trouble proclaiming the Gospel through our words and actions. But, when trouble comes, it gets difficult! We lose our joy, our words and actions tend to degenerate, and we begin to look and act more like the world than a child of God. We need the Lord’s strength in order to continue proclaiming the Gospel at times like these. If we continue living by Biblical principles even during troublesome times, it proves to the world that our hope is genuine, and this is how we "fully proclaim" the message.

Paul "fully proclaimed" the message. These verses from 2 Timothy are the last words written by this great man of faith. He went from this prison cell to his death, a death of beheading. He did not use his last few moments pointing fingers at his accusers or running them down with his words. He used his last few moments to continue proclaiming the Gospel. He just continued doing what he had been doing before this time of trouble – praying for others, edifying them, fanning the flame in them, and proclaiming God’s power and authority. In fact, his last words were, "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." God did rescue Paul from this final evil attack by bringing him to His heavenly kingdom where he will never face prison cells or death threats again. And, because Paul continued to proclaim the Gospel during this troublesome season, he brought Glory to His heavenly Father for ever and ever. May the same be true of us today.

Copyright © 2006 Tammie Rigney

Posted by Tammie at 7:08 PM