This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me. —2 Timothy 1:15
Paul was well aware of the life of suffering. “...five times received I forty stripes...Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck...in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,...In weariness and painfulness, ...in hunger and thirst...” (2 Corinthians 11:24–27). Yet, all these physical afflictions were nothing to Paul compared to the “all in Asia have forsaken me.”
Yes, Paul’s pulpit seemed to have been in a pit, yet never pitiful. While in this pit, Paul wrote his “prison epistles” which we know as “praise epistles,” proving to us that Christianity works victoriously even in the most miserable of circumstances. Friend, are you letting your prison epistles become praise epistles?
Paul’s theology of praise in the pit helped him to lay the foundation for the arena of faith. Truly, this pit religion meant that Paul’s faith was first tested before it was published as a faith that sings when it could have wept. The church of Asia is no more, but the product of Paul’s faith lives on, not pitifully but triumphantly! Yes, Paul’s writings help all of us in our pits of life.
Are you in a pit? If so, rejoice! Has trouble upon trouble come into your life? Do as Paul did: rejoice! Remember that man’s most desperate hour is God’s greatest opportunity to show forth His power and glory in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7).
As much as our flesh dreads suffering and death, let us remember that Jesus came to suffer and to die. If we suffer and die as He did, our fruit shall be as sweet as His. People may turn away from us, trials may abound unendingly, but none of these things will prevent the abiding fruit that comes out of a surrendered life.
Pastor Reimar A. C. Schultze
Reimar Schultze was born in Nazi Germany in 1936. Because of the their Jewish heritage, the family suffered much hardship from the anti-Semitic laws and attitudes as the Holocaust unfolded. They miraculously escaped the heavy bombing in Hamburg, Germany that killed most of their neighbors. After fleeing Nazi persecution into eastern Germany, Reimar's father died and a fifth child was born. These events qualified the family to escape their city on the last refugee train before the Red Army invaded. Additional miracles delivered the Schultzes from torpedo boats and mines during their evacuation to Denmark, where they were interned for two years with 36,000 other refugees.
Pastor Schultze first heard the call of God in his heart at the age of thirteen. Several years later he was saved under the ministry of English evangelist Major Ian Thomas and came to the U.S. at age nineteen. After he graduated from college, he worked as an administrator for the U.S. Public Health Service. When he answered the call to the ministry, he received a M. Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary and has now pastored for over 45 years. He and his wife, Marcia, have four children and six grandchildren.
Because of a Kingdom connection with Rev. Loran Helm, Pastor Schultze was led to Kokomo, IN in 1977. For the next 30 years, he pastored the congregation of Kokomo Christian Fellowship. Pastor Schultze remains active in the church as a teacher and trainer. He also continues the Call to Obedience ministry to this day. Go to www.schultze.org to follow Rev. Schultze's ministry more closely and to order more of his resources.