Welcome back to our mini series of Deep Dives into the Word!
These Deep Dives are our way of continuing to build community.
So here’s what’s happening.
We’re taking a single verse of scripture each week and breaking it down. We want to have the biggest picture possible of His intended truth waiting there for us.
And then connect with each other over it.
If you haven’t figured it out, I’m big on building community.
Anyhoo.
In our first post here, we started to peel back the layers of a very commonly used verse, 2 Timothy 1:7. By clarifying one of the biggest keywords, we unlocked it’s intention in a new way.
So now let’s deep dive a little further.
When Someone Confirms What You Already Know
Have you ever had a mentor in your life whose words meant everything to you?
So here’s the backstory: This book of the Bible is called 2 Timothy because this was the second missive from Paul to his student and dearest friend, you guessed it, Timothy. Paul was nearing not just the end of his historic ministry but the end of his life. He’s writing these letters from prison and a death sentence. And he wants to make every word count.
He also wants to instruct the one about to pick up the baton and continue the race. And apparently Timothy is feeling the weight of what God has clearly been preparing him for all this time. These are really really big shoes to fill.
But the enormity of it has him second quessing it all. So Paul builds him up with truth and a promise from God. God won’t hesitate, so you needn’t hesitate.
“You can do this, you can continue my work. Why? Because God hasn’t given his Called Ones even a breath of timidity! He’s been equipping you this whole time, and now He’s promising you can do it because of what He’s already provided for this particular season in your life, Timothy!”
And he goes on to tell him in my Bible that God’s equipped his children with power, love, and a sound mind.
* Definition of Equipping *
Oxford Dictionary
– Supplying with the necessary items for a particular purpose.
– preparing someone mentally for a particular situation or task.
And I think, great! But what does Paul actually mean? What kind of power? In what way should this love work or even look like? And is Paul talking about staying sane, or what?
Ensuring You’ll Be Unstoppable
So the first thing Paul says God has eqipped Timothy with is power. And this sounds so very vague. I mean, Paul’s ministry made him a powerful figure in establishing the early church, sure, but it also landed him in jail. Rome, it turns out, was very threatened by Paul’s influence. And I’m sure this point was not wasted on Timothy either.
But if we look at the original text again, we discover that Paul was referring to the kind of power that comes from a big God.
The kind of power that gets things done.
And the kind of power that can’t be held behind bars or held back by death.
This power is actually explosive.
Say what now?
No joke, but the word in the Greek translation that Paul actually used is the word “dunamis” and when I heard it pronounced I though, “gosh, that sounds an awful lot like our word for dynamite.”
And it is. Dunamis is the where we get the word for dynamite.
Paul wasn’t saying Timothy had been eqipped with any temporary or finite pull or sway.
Paul was telling him that God wanted him to understand that Timothy would succeed because he was being supplied with a holy power.
An explosive power.
I dare say the same explosive power used to set the cosmos into place with a bang. The same dynamite power that brings down Jerichos.
The same explosive power that moves massive grave stones away from graves to facilitate resurrection.
Nothing holds His holy power back.
So we, who are walking in His will and plan and purpose for our lives, can step into it with zero hesitation. Because He’s given us something to propel us forward. Undeniable power is His promise.
Go back to the top of the page now and read that definition of equipping again with fresh eyes and eager heart.
Then decide that you’ll walk into that purpose without hesitation because He’s deliberately supplied you for exactly this season.
But Wait, There’s More
As if that wasn’t enough, Paul mentions two more things He has equipped Timothy with.
And it might surpise us to know that they have less to do with our performance, and more to do with our perspective.
Because how often do we intentionally check to make sure our perspective matches His?
I better go think about that for a bit…
I can’t wait to dig deeper with you tomorrow.
Until then, let’s remember to do life together!
Pssst…. continue the series with the two final posts in our Deep Dives mini study of 2 Timothy 1:7!
Not Your Way But His
No Longer Uncertain. You’re Called!
#LetsDoLifeTogether
They say all good things must come to an end but my question is:
Who is “they”? And what do they know?
So if you’d like to help build this community and keep the good convos and shares going, be sure to subscribe below. You’ll never miss a post and once a month you’ll get our community newsletter, maybe you’ll even be featured in it! Cause that’s what we’re all about. So let’s do life together!
Wow, I’m just thinking about the total opposites going on here. “Timidity” “Explosive Power”!! The first one, HE didn’t give us…..the second one, HE DID!! If we can only grasp and believe that HE has given us Explosive Power!! That might just change how I enter my day!! Not in myself, but IN HIS NAME!!