2 TIMOTHY 4:9,21

There are times when every believer needs help. It is not only true that we need the prayers of those we love, but we also need the help of those we love. I trust today that none of us will be ashamed about crying out for help. It is taught in Scripture that we are all interdependent and dependent on each other. Cain’s loaded and rhetorical question of “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is answered for us all throughout the Scriptures. We truly need each other’s help. Here we are encouraged never to be afraid to cry out for help, and may we always see the need to help the person who cries out for help.

In Paul’s farewell address to Timothy, his spiritual son, and to all the brethren, this truth comes across most poignantly to us. As the great apostle faces imminent execution and as his circle of traveling companions quickly diminishes, Paul does not hesitate to say to Timothy, “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me” (2 Timothy 4:9). In the Message Bible, the paraphrase is “Get here as fast as you can.” Before the passage is concluded, the apostle makes it a point to repeat his request to Timothy by stating, “Do thy diligence to come before winter” (v. 21).

Paul needed Timothy’s presence and encouragement as he faced the darkest final hours of his life. He needed the company and assurance of his dear friend, brother, and son. It must be noted that at this point, only Luke remained with Paul. All the others had left or were sent away to serve and minister in other locales. Some had to return to their various ministry assignments (v. 9-12). They just couldn’t be there as before. The apostle also grievously reported that Demas, who was obviously a trusted disciple previously, had recently forsaken him, having loved this present world (v.10). It seemed like a really rough time for the great apostle and hence his appeal for Timothy to come visit.

He also shares with his readers how progressively dismal things had become. He spoke of Alexander, the coppersmith, doing him much evil (v.14). Then he also reports that at his first trial before the Emperor, Nero, “no man stood with him”. In fact, he states, “. . . all men forsook me (v.16). Paul, the aged, was basically now all alone and in prison. He was cold and so aware that the winter was fast approaching and the hostile forces of darkness were closing in all around him.

Therefore, he calls for Timothy to come to him quickly and to bring John Mark with him, whom he claims is profitable to him for the ministry. He also calls for his cloak and his books and his parchments (v13). How quickly and almost suddenly things can change for all of us! Thank God that the people we pour into can then turn around and pour into us. I find it instructive and edifying that the great apostle cries out for help. May we never be afraid or hesitant to cry out for help!