By: Olivia Meade

As we approach the end of 2 Timothy, one theme has remained constant. We are to imitate mature believers and live a life worth following. Timothy was a “beloved son” to Paul, and as Paul neared the end of his life, he knew it was important to impart as much knowledge as possible.

There’s something in chapter three that really sticks out to me. Paul mentions the suffering and persecution he has endured and then ends with this: “yet from them all the Lord rescued me” (2 Tim. 3:11). The Lord indeed preserved Paul’s life in those situations, but that doesn’t mean it was easy or comfortable.

In Lystra, Paul was stoned and left for dead. Acts 14:19–20 gives the account:

“Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.”

Paul very well could have died there, but God planned for his ministry to continue. Lystra was also Timothy’s hometown, so it’s possible he was there to witness this incident. Timothy had a front-row seat to see Paul’s success as well as his suffering. This makes Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 3:12 even more meaningful, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Timothy is charged to follow Paul’s example, but the example he often saw from his mentor involved pain and sorrow. Who wants to follow that? I think it’s safe to say that many of us desire a comfortable and pain-free life. That’s only human.

What’s also human is the propensity to sin—and because of that, we live in a world riddled with hardship. There is no way around pain, no matter how hard we try to hide from it. If we live long enough, we’ll have scars to prove it. Instead of looking at our scars as a reminder of the pain, they can be seen as a mark of grace.

Just as Paul was beaten but not killed many, many times during his ministry, we also endure hardship without succumbing to it. Much of what I go through is not nearly as bad as what Paul or other first-century Christians experienced, but their example is valuable and encourages steadfastness. That’s what Timothy saw when he looked at Paul: a mentor who suffered but endured. Paul carried both sorrow and joy together; he cared deeply for those in his life but longed to be Christ (Phil. 1:22–23). Timothy had Paul as an example of fruitful, faithful, and steadfast ministry. And Timothy was encouraged to be that example for others in his care.

It’s hard to think about suffering and hardship as being used for good. Especially amid pain, we often wonder what the purpose of our heartache could be. In our weakness, the strength of Christ is amplified. We endure because he endured, and we will one day overcome because he overcame. Jesus experienced the greatest suffering of all, yet still stands as our greatest example of faithful ministry. It is impossible to be “like Jesus” without experiencing pain. He allowed suffering and sorrow to be part of his life to save us, yes, but also to have a point of empathy with his beloved. Jesus is well-acquainted with your pain.

Paul’s example of steadfastness echoes that of Jesus. Timothy knew his mentor was close to dying by martyrdom. I think he also knew that, in choosing to follow Jesus and serve in Paul’s footsteps, he awaited the same fate someday.

Why would anyone continue this path of faithfulness to the gospel, knowing it could bring hardship and even death? I think this excerpt from the New City Catechism sums it up well:

What is our only hope in life and death?

That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ.

I am not mine, and you are not yours. We belong to Christ, the chief of suffering and author of salvation. He is an example worth following and emulating. If there is one legacy I’d like to leave, it’s that I followed Jesus unashamedly and faithfully through the good and bad, knowing that he would see it through to completion. That is my only hope in life and death, and what a great hope it is.