Have you ever felt tired and worn out? I have! I'm even feeling a bit that way now as I face starting school in just a week with a busy end of this week ahead of me. (I'm not ready for school to start!) And yet this morning as I was reading in 2 Timothy, the first verse I read said, "Now then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." There are times I think, how can I be strong? I'm so weak and tired! And yet, if I only look at those two words, be strong, then I have missed a big part of the point.
First, Paul says to be strong just after he has told Timothy that everyone in Asia except for one man has deserted him. So I suppose Paul knows that Timothy, like Paul, will face times when people turn away or desert him. I've had times when I've felt deserted, too! So Paul is exhorting Timothy to be strong in the face of those difficult times. And yet to be strong on my own power would be futile. I'm just not that strong. (I used to think I was, but the older I get, the more I recognize my own limitations and weaknesses.) That's where the rest of the verse comes in. Paul doesn't stop with Be strong. He continues by saying in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I must admit that I got stuck here.
What does it look like to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus? What does that mean practically? As I pondered this, I realized that Paul gets it. He knows that we can't be strong on our own. It's impossible. He is telling Timothy (and God is telling all of us) to rely on Christ and the grace we receive from Him. I've known what grace is because of receiving Christ. We talk about how grace is a free gift - something we don't deserve. It's easy to think of receiving that free gift in reference to our salvation. God saved us not based on our own merit or what we do but on the free gift of Jesus. But here He is talking about the free gift of God giving us the ability to be strong. Grace is God's free gift to me, not just in salvation (in saving me from being eternally separated from Him), but also in helping me to be strong in ministry: in being able to live victoriously in my day to day life.
Paul was dying. Almost everyone in Asia had deserted him. And here he was telling Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. God is telling us how to be strong: in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What does that look like practically? What it's not: it's not trying to do things in my own strength... not just trying harder, gritting my teeth, rolling up my sleeves and just pushing through. What it is: relying on God to give me the strength each day to do what He has for me that day. Instead of worrying about the future and how I'm going to get everything done, I can give Him all those concerns and just do today what He has called me to do today. It means depending on Him and relying on Him. It means spending time with Him each day, allowing Him to give me the strength I need.
What does it look like for you to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus?
