Abandoned
You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 2 Timothy 1:15

^{Text: 2 Timothy 1:13-18}

First, thanks to Roy for preaching yesterday. He serves as an "Onesiphorus" in numerous capacities here at Grace Church and is a refreshing presence in our church community.

Paul Tripp writes, "Life in this fallen world is often very hard. This world and everything in it is not functioning the way God intended. The brokenness of this fallen world will enter your door and somehow alter the trajectory of your life. In those moments, it is tempting to conclude that life is all about surviving the chaos. The Bible declares something to us that is the opposite of the way we tend to think. It tells us that the difficulties that we face every day, the seeming chaos that regularly greets us, are not the result of the world being out of control, but the result of the reign of One who is in complete control."

It hurts badly to be betrayed by those on whom you thought you could depend. Loneliness and isolation give us the feeling that God has abandoned us and we must just survive the chaos. But nothing could be further from the truth. But out of fear, we often run to many functional saviors to insulate ourselves from the potential threat of abandonment.

Interestingly, the author of Hebrews ties together our propensity to depend upon material possessions and financial resources rather than God. The author writes, "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” God's children are secure no matter what comes because He is with them! Money provides the allusion of security but we must never allow it to replace our dependence upon God!

Being abandoned by everyone in the province of Asia was painful for Paul. But Paul found encouragement in a man named Onesiphorus. Onesiphorus was willing to go out of his way to make a difference. He searched hard for Paul in Rome, refusing to allow Paul's incarceration as a criminal to deter him from providing Paul with much-needed physical, mental, and spiritual encouragement!

What about you? Are you reaching out to those who feel abandoned? There are many people right here in Grace Church who need encouragement! And many in Bainbridge need someone to care for them.

Many times it's not that we are uncaring. We simply get busy with our lives and fail to see others and their need. Many times we lack trust in the Holy Spirit's power to help us in our ministry, which was promised for these very situations (Acts 1:8). We want to do something or say something, but we're scared of rejection or not having the right things to say. Read Acts 1:8 and trust God's promises! Step out in faith!

A few weeks ago, I challenged people who were in need of spiritual encouragement to reach out for discipleship. Sadly, only a few people responded. Our Scripture text says that Onesiphorus refreshed Paul.

Do you need refreshing? What about your marriage? We have couples who have been trained as "marriage mentors" and are eager to provide refreshment. If you would like individual discipleship or marriage mentoring, email me HERE.

Yesterday's Application: