—2 Timothy 4:13

As best we can tell, Paul wrote 2 Timothy from prison in Rome to his young friend and co-laborer Timothy, who had been a pastoral presence in Ephesus for a number of years. There is, of course, scholarly debate about whether Paul penned all or part of this letter, but I tend toward seeing most of the letters ascribed to Paul as being written by Paul himself. But that is an argument for another time.

The letter reads as an appeal to, and a last set of instructions for, this young pastor from a friend who believed his time was coming to an end. At the end of the letter, Paul seems to expect Timothy to come visit him in prison, and if he makes it in time, it may well be their last visit. He tells Timothy to be bold in his ministry (1:7), cling to the good message given him (chapter 2), and stand strong in the face of opposition (chapter 3).

All of this sounds great. It is brave. It is bold. It stands on the heart of the Gospel, which is the lordship of Jesus. Paul is quite the striking apostle. But then we get to these weird instructions in chapter 4. Evidently, Paul couldn’t plan for everything, and he was running out of supplies. He even lacked a good, warm cloak! We often ask people what they would want—a book or the like—to keep them company on a desert island. Evidently, besides the books (we can assume they were Scripture), if you are in prison, you need a good blanket.

I point all this out because for all Paul did to proclaim the Gospel, and all the ways God used him to be a mighty witness, it was in little details like this one that we see that our best-laid plans and preparations are always in flux. Things change, as we have grown fond of saying, and we don’t have all the answers. Sometimes, we just need to wait a bit, anticipate that warm cloak, and sit tight. Sometimes, the spaghetti we were throwing at the wall a few weeks ago not only didn’t stick and needs to boil, but it also needs more water or something else.

So, as you will discover, our revised plan is to have Wednesday night programming at 6:15. We’ve prepared well for that, and we hope you will come out to participate. Still, for all our boldness to proclaim the Gospel, we’re going to need to wait a bit on the food. Like Paul and his cloak, books, and parchment, we need to await a little more relief.

Bear with us. I leave you with Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 4:17: “But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.” May it be so with us.

In Christ,

Pastor Sam

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