“If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along. I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ. But you know how Timothy has proved himself. Like a son with his father, he has served with me in preaching the Good News. I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here. And I have confidence from the Lord that I myself will come to see you soon.”
In today’s verses, Paul brags on his number-two guy who has proven himself to be a worthy servant. My husband, Joshua, is a modern-day Timothy — serving as Executive Pastor at our church and sharing his work with other associate pastors. His life’s work and calling really embraces all that Timothy modeled, and it serves us well as we consider what it means to have total freedom in every way we follow Christ.
Perhaps you have felt less-than at times because you are not the type to be an out front leader. You are never going to be the one to run the show and perhaps you have wondered how much God can really use you. Maybe you have physical or emotional limitations that prevent you from serving in ways that others easily can. No matter what your situation, God can use you in mighty ways.
Timothy received this praise from Paul because he genuinely cared for others. He served others and was willing to serve under Paul rather than be in charge. Serve in the role that you were designed for. Don’t worry about whether you are making a big splash — simply do the thing God makes it easy for you to do. If you have been discounting what you are good at as “not enough” for a while now, embrace the you God sees.