Ignore What You Feel //2 Timothy 3:10-4:8

Paul's Charge to Timothy
10You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 4
1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Words and phrases that stuck out to me:

*** ...everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted...; verse 3:12: This is something I think all believers need to realize. So many of us (not all) were saved with, for better or worse, a sense that "now everything will be fixed!" Well, sure, that's true, but not from an earthly standpoint. From a spiritual, soul standpoint, YES, but relationships may still be broken, consequences felt, decisions based on faith are ridiculed by others, and debts still out there. Along those lines is the FACT that if one is following Christ with everything they have, not everyone will like it. Some, no matter how much love or good intentions you have guiding you, will still ridicule, despise, and yes, hate you. Now, that shouldn't stop us from following a mighty God who has us in his hand and has great plans for us, but often the realization of persecution can almost "neuter" one's faith if it isn't realized as a cost of being a true Christian...

*** ...continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of...; verse 3:14: To me, this is more than just a "persevere" verse; it is a charge to have faith in what we believe and are convinced of. I think the word "hope" is supposed to mean convinced, but sadly, we have made hope so much less than that. Hope to us, now is this: "I hope that things will get better." That hope does not seem certain. It is a flimsy foundation at best, where we figure it doesn't hurt to think that maybe something good will happen. NO. Godly hope is being convinced, regardless of if we are "feeling it" or not, whether we just lost a debate with someone not believing and now we feel stupid, or even when it all just looks foolish when we use our human criteria to make decisions. How we approach life, the teachings we follow, beliefs we have that we hold as true-of-God, we need to remember the certainty of...even in the midst of our wavering hearts.

*** Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season...; verse 4:2: This, to me, is another, "How you 'feel' ultimately doesn't matter" challenge. I must be ready to share the Word, whether through my voice, or an email, or even just living the Word through my actions, whether I feel "ready" or not. Too often I try to slip out the back door of an opportunity to minister because I just don't feel ready or prepared...but if I truly believe (with, um...certainty?) that the Holy Spirit will intercede for me, then I must trust and go.

Questions for me:

How am I a slave to how I "feel" in relation to my yielding (or not) to God? Am I enough in love with Christ for all he's done to save me and sustain me, that I would do ANYTHING for him, despite persecution?