Paul’s Final Words: Embracing Humanity and Hope in Faith

2 Chronicles 22-23; 2 Timothy 4; Jeremiah 24

I’m way behind. So behind, in fact, that rather than trying to catch up, I just reenlisted my heart again and picked up where we are in this week’s reading. We have had a lot of staff changes, and the truth is, it’s just been hard to fit everything into my day.

It’s amazing what gets cut when we get into the press of life, isn’t it? I don’t say this with condemnation. After all, we are God’s epistles. His letter is written on our hearts. My devotion is given to the Man, Jesus, and not only the discipline of reading His book. And yet, when I come back to the daily discipline of sitting with Him to listen, I’m always reminded of how good it is to sit under His Word. His Word is life and power and a complete shifting of my perspective.

I’m somehow washed clean. More than that, I’m recharged to keep on keepin’ on. You know?

Today, in our reading of Paul’s letter to Timothy, I was captured by the humanity and the humility of this last letter. This is Paul’s last recorded letter before he was martyred for his loyalty to Jesus and the message of the Gospel.

Paul, writing to his spiritual son, one of his first converts, openly shares his love and affection for Timothy. He knows he doesn’t have much time left, but he asks Timothy to come to see him as he awaits his death in prison. He asks Timothy to come soon. He wants to say goodbye.

But there’s a line in this letter that just gets to me. This one:

2 Timothy 4:13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

Paul wants his coat. He wants his books. He wants to write.

He wants his spiritual son.

There’s something so, I don’t even quite know, so real about this last request. It’s so human.

It reminds me of the scene in The Chosen, if you’ve seen it, where all of the disciples are fighting over who is the greatest, and Jesus, out of the picture, is alone praying for the sick and destitute. At the close of the scene, Jesus walks into their camp so sore from ministering to such great need all day he can barely walk to his tent. His mother comes to help him take his shoes off and helps him lie down for the night.

That scene makes me cry every time. God incarnate. God in flesh.

It was Paul who wrote in an earlier letter to the church in Corinth this line:

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.

There’s something about seeing God in flesh, God incarnate, that is so jarring, so unmistakably God, that for me it is the reminder of what the Gospel is at its very essence. The core is that our God comes low to meet us in our mess… in our flesh. He comes to us in our brokenness and frailty. He comes to us with a cloak to cover us.

God doesn’t despise our humanity. He comes to us in our humanity. He is altogether God, high and lifted up. He is altogether God, low and in the dust with us.

If today, you find yourself in need, in despair, lost… remember this: You are loved. Right where you are, in all the mess, you are loved. Our God is with you. He’s your very breath. Let yourself be found today. He’s right there inside you. Ask Him. He’s right there.

Deepening Faith: Reflective Journal Prompt

Reflect on the humanity and humility of Paul’s final letter to Timothy. Consider the personal requests Paul made and how they reveal his deep need for connection, even in his last days. Write about a time in your life when you experienced a similar need for connection during a challenging period. How did you reach out for support, and how did those connections impact your faith and resilience?

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