What Is Entrusted to You?
by Susan Hales
“By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:14, ESV)
The blank screen on my desk taunts me. I hear whispers from the enemy: “You will never be good enough. No one wants to read what you write.” I wonder, Why bother even trying? I want to sit on the couch, zone out and watch a movie so I don’t have to think about what to write. Instead, I pick up my phone and open my Bible app, desperate for some words from God. The words I read pierce my heart: “Think of a time when you felt like giving up on something.” I pray, Yes, Lord, right now! I feel like giving up.
Then another word comes to my mind: entrusted. I am entrusted just like Paul entrusted his protégé, Timothy, who was like a son to him. Paul exhorts Timothy, in his personal letters, to “guard the deposit entrusted to you” (1 Timothy 6:20a, ESV).
Paul entrusted the Truth of the gospel to Timothy. Paul spent the last 30 years of his life sharing this Truth with the world. The Truth for which he suffered imprisonment, beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, danger, hardship, hunger, thirst and more. (2 Corinthians 11:23-27)
The book of 2 Timothy was the last one Paul wrote. We should heed the last words of Paul to Timothy and to us. He wrote, “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:14, ESV).
Paul used the Greek word parathéké three times in his letters to Timothy. This word means a deposit, anything committed to one’s charge or trust, just like a deposit for safekeeping in a bank or safe. When you deposit your money in a bank, the government guarantees it. Likewise, the promises of God in the Bible guarantee our deposit, the Truth of the gospel, to be delivered to others.
God entrusts us with the gospel. But not only the gospel — we are entrusted with our testimonies, how our lives reflect the life of Jesus. God calls us to share the Truth of the gospel by sharing our testimony to show how God works miracles in our lives.
God uses broken people just like me, just like you. Remember Paul zealously persecuted Christians: “… he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3, ESV). But God chose me and you, just like He chose Paul and Timothy. We persevere and continue learning our craft.
Instead of retreating to the couch to watch Netflix, I pray for the right words to share my testimony and lessons learned. We are entrusted to show others how much God loves them. What story has God entrusted to you to share so others will see Jesus in you?
Susan Hales
After several health-related wake-up calls, I joined Compel when God called me to write about wellness. My blog encourages, inspires and equips women and men seeking to be healthy so that they will glorify and honor God with their bodies and apply God's Word to their lives.
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“God uses broken people just like me, just like you.” It’s a thing of awe how He does that 🙂 Thank you for this reminder.
So proud of your writing that certainly God inspired.