How did Paul endure?
Let me start by saying that I am not equating my own experiences with those of St. Paul. Also, as I write this, it is a glorious, sunny day here in the west of Scotland. Writing about any kind of suffering almost feels wrong when it is this nice out. Also-also, welcome to subscribers who have been moved over from my old blog!
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do.1
If I had known what the last seven years was going to look like, I would probably still go through with it, but I can say that it has not been easy2. There have been times where nobody would have judged us for deciding to go back to a normal life. The journey to where we are today, working to be able to stay where God has placed us now for the last two-and-a-half years, has not been at all straightforward.
With each new move would come hopes and expectations. And then those expectations were always, quickly, confronted with reality. It hurt.
As we continue through 2 Timothy, Paul is very upfront about his situation. He’s in prison and he is suffering. From our perspective, the reasonable thing for Timothy to do is disassociate himself from Paul. When things seem to go badly, we tend to assume that either something is wrong in the situation (which it is) or that there is something wrong with the person in the situation (which it sometimes is). As Paul will later reveal, people are leaving him isolated and alone. Is Paul embarrassed by this? Well, no.
But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed…
What I think was alway key to Paul’s willingness to suffer is the simple fact that it was told to him at the very beginning of his life as a Christian. The way that Paul responds to his suffering tells us much about how we should respond as the Church continues to lose cultural influence in the West.
there was always going to be suffering
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”3
Paul knew from the beginning that it was going to hurt and it was going to cost if he was going to follow Jesus. He knew that he worshipped a suffering Saviour and had been appointed as a preacher, apostle, and teacher by that suffering Saviour. There was never any doubt in Paul’s mind about what was coming for him.
and so we should expect it
When I started going back to the gym I knew that the DOMS were coming. My wife also knew this and so she reminded me to keep stretching myself out throughout the day so that I wouldn’t get too tight.
There are two things that can happen when you expect pain to come. Sometimes you will tense up in anticipation, sometimes you will remember to breathe. For a long time now, there has been either no cost to following Jesus or it has actually proved to be an asset. For many of the people that I pastor, Christianity has been an assumed cultural good. That isn’t really the case any longer, at least in the West. It hasn’t been the case for most of history in most of the world.
And so just as Paul instructs Timothy, I think we ourselves should expect following Jesus to start to hurt. So take a breath.
because God is able to keep us
The simple answer to the question posed at the start is that Paul knows that he is being kept and guarded by God. He knows that everything he has gone through is by God’s will and so until God says otherwise, Paul will continue to be able to preach. And Paul knows that the very same God dwells in Timothy. They have both been indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Their shared faith, itself an inheritance handed down to them, is in the same God who dwells in them.
And the same God who indwelt them indwells those who belong to Jesus today. That is very good news.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, p. 2 Ti 1:8–12.
It is a somewhat long, tangled up story involving a visa refusal, an international move, a year spent with a failing church plant, a global pandemic leading up to another international move to another struggling church during the global pandemic leading up to another struggling church that God has graciously allowed us to have a hand in revitalising.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, p. Ac 9:15–16.