Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Paul once sat down to put on paper his thoughts about what serving Jesus Christ meant to him. When he did, his reflection caused him to take in the whole of his experience with God in Christ, from the beginning to the time that he recorded for Timothy.
Paul, like the rest of us who would be honest, had to begin with gratitude for God’s mercy in sharp contrast with a leaning to be free of God. As he looked back over it all, downs and ups and all the in-between times as well, what Paul saw most clearly and unmistakably was the mercy of God evidenced in nearly everything this colorful apostle had seen and done both before and after he committed his life to God through Jesus Christ and endured in taking a stand for Jesus Christ in a pagan world.
You know, when somebody who has been through hard times or is in the midst of hard times talks about how good God is, I listen. The person has my attention. I feel the same way about someone who can own up to the fact that she or he hasn’t always done her or his best for God. The test of God’s goodness is not tied to how well things go for us and how successful we are, though I don’t mean to suggest that you have to be either destitute or despicable to understand or own the prevalence of God’s mercy in your life.
The point is: when do you say it? When can we testify to our belief in the goodness of God? Only when we’re getting our way? Only during periods of obvious success or prosperity? Only when there are no questions that disturb us or keep us awake? Can we only testify to the goodness of God when our pathways are smooth? If so, what Paul is saying to his protege, Timothy, will not make sense to us. If there is not some space in our theological selves for a God who is working for our good, especially when times are trying and discouraging and we are running our hardest away from God, a hearing of Paul’s word is not possible for us.
We have to understand that when Paul testified, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work . . .” (1 Timothy 1:12 NLT), he was writing about strength to excel and command notice but strength to endure, to get by, get up, and get at it another day. Paul, as arrogant as he could be, didn’t believe he could have made it in his strength alone; rather, if it wasn’t for divine strength, strength from beyond himself, Paul would have run out of anything to offer. That divine strength came strictly because of God’s mercy. Paul knew it. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work.”
Against a background of Paul’s religious fanaticism which brought about his greatest sins, paradoxically, he had persecuted the people of God in His name. If people didn’t speak of God and worship Him in the way Paul envisioned as proper, he regarded them as godless. The God Paul served and upheld was angry and unforgiving.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 