At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
2 Timothy 4:16-18 NIV
When Paul wrote this, we believe he was in prison in Rome, and his execution was not far off. Yet he was confident that the Lord would rescue him from every evil attack. And that God would bring him safely into his heavenly kingdom. But the rescue Paul was looking forward to is not what we would generally expect. And it is surely not what you would see in a movie where the SWAT or SEAL team battles through enemy forces to bring someone out of a hostage situation.
Paul was fully expecting to lose his life soon (2 Tim. 4:6). He did not anticipate any deliverance from the hands of the Roman authorities. But he still expressed confidence in his deliverance. That’s because the deliverance he was looking forward to was from the spiritual forces he was contending with. What happened to him physically was of little concern since it was just his temporary tent (2 Cor. 5:1). And he was confident that God would guard his real life and bring him safely into the kingdom (2 Tim. 1:12).
Deliverance
In this life, we will face many difficulties. Many of which are common to all people. We get sick and broken. We face storms and other ‘natural disasters’. And we fall victim to thieves, economic instability, and political forces beyond our control. We live in a fallen world. And being believers in the Lord Jesus does not shield us from all of these things.
As believers, we can also expect to suffer for our faith at the hands of those who are opposed to our Lord (John 15:18-20). But in Ephesians 6:12-13, Paul told us that our struggle as believers is not really against the people who stand against us. Instead, it is against the spiritual forces of darkness. We have no promise of being delivered from human attacks. We could well, like Paul, suffer tremendously at the hands of people. But what we can trust is that God will deliver us from every evil spiritual attack. He will protect what is really important and will bring us safely into His heavenly kingdom.
