When The Lord Stands With Us!

"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" (2 Timothy 4:17 NIV).

When The Lord stands with us, He gives us strength to do what must be done.  In this passage of scripture, Paul tells Timothy that while the Gospel was being preached, Paul knew the Lord was with Him and that knowledge gave him the strength and courage he needed to preach to the unbelieving.  If God stood with Paul, will He not stand with us, when we do as are told to do?

I am convinced that even though there are many people who would shun listening to the Gospel message, and there is evidence on a daily basis that many will attempt to refute, if I stand firm in the knowledge that the Lord is with me, I can preach the Gospel and convince others to believe without worrying about the end result.

Some people are afraid to preach the Gospel message (without compromising it) for fear that they will lose friends or people will laugh at them.  People laughed at Jesus; they refuted His attempts to get them to understand that He was the Son of God.  I'd rather be in the company of Jesus than those who would oppose Him.

Perhaps, it is because of my nature that I have never really been concerned about what people thought of me.  I know this attitude helped me to overcome the negativity of being a female preacher in many circles.  I know this attitude helped me to overcome the indifference of many who thought I was crazy to go back to school and begin teaching in public schools at 50 years old.  I know this attitude helped me to overcome the "hems and haws" when I first started writing (seriously) at a late stage in my life.  How did I overcome?  I know the Lord was with me and I was strengthened by the knowledge that He would never leave me or forsake me.  I knew that as long as I was doing what He had either asked me to do or given me permission to do that everything was going to be all right. It is because I knew then and know now, when The Lord stands with me, I can do all things above and beyond my finite expectations and if I can, so can anyone else who believes He will.

Do all things that glorify Him with Him standing by your side and you will be victorious!