Daily Devotional for Saturday April 29

Paul’s Great Assurance

“At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge,” 2 Timothy 4:16.

Sometimes in our workplaces, events happen that are not right or unfair. Some things should be spoken up for or spoken against. What happens often is that workers will all come to an agreement that something must be done. At that point, someone will often step up and offer to be the designated sacrifice for the team, so to speak. Charge that hill, and we will be right behind you! Sadly, what often happens is some person leads the charge only to look behind and see that his comrades have abandoned him. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in the work of our churches. Sometimes people take a stand thinking others will support them only to be abandoned at the bottom of the hill.
Paul had some experience with this. Many who professed to be his comrades in arms turned their backs on him when times were tough. That must have really hurt. You may have experienced this yourself, and it probably hurt you. In fact, you may have been angry. You may still be hanging on to grudges from the past over such betrayals.
There are no accidental words in God’s Word. Here, Paul clearly stated that he held no ill will towards those who abandoned him. This teaches us that we must do the same. God’s work is what matters, not the fact that our allies failed us. They are accountable to God, not to us. On the other hand, you remain accountable to answer God’s calling for you. What will you do? Will you waste God’s time worrying about others, or will you put it in His hands and complete the work He has given you?

THOUGHT: Sometimes we may feel alone in our Christian walk, but we are never alone. The Holy Spirit is not only with us, but He is in us.

Wally Fry