Protection through Strengthening

As promised, this is a devotional from In Touch magazine written by Pastor Charles Stanley. This article spoke to me and really comforted me on an unbelievably lonely and sad night.

Devotional from 2 Timothy 4:9-18
"While writing to Timothy, Paul was in prison experiencing physical discomfort, personal attack, and desertion. Why would God allow one of His most faithful servants to endure such suffering? Why didn't He step in and protect him?

At times the Lord doesn't rescue us from suffering because He is providing something better. We may feel as if He's abandoning us, but in reality, He is protecting us - not by deliverance but through strengthening.

When trouble pays a visit, view it from God's perspective and ask yourself:
*Which is a greater demonstration of the Lord's power - changing something around me or changing something within my heart?
*Which is the greater faith builder - seeing God's deliverance from every difficulty or experiencing His presence and strengthening in the midst of trials?
*Which reward is greater - quick relief from pain, or tested and refined faith that will result in praise and glory when Christ returns (1 Peter 1:7)?
*Which answer to prayer is greater: that the Lord has removed something and given me external peace, or that He's left me in a trial and given me internal peace that nothing can steal - not even my circumstances."

This small article really made me realize that I could do this... that I was going to be ok. If Paul could be in his lonely jail cell for something he didn't even do and be treated like dirt, I could sit in the comfort of my bed, alone. If he could have enough faith in the Lord to not be mad at Him for not taking him out of his physical situation, I could also have faith in knowing that God will see me through this. I somehow found inner peace despite the whirlwind of a life I was caught in.

Paul wrote, "At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the lord stood by me and strengthened me, 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. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever."

Amen