Encouragement: Paul and Onesiphorus

By Pastor Vam Fong Vang

2 Timothy 1:16-18
16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.

What we know is that Onesiphorus was living in Ephesus when this letter was written to Timothy, a young missionary ministering to the church in Ephesus. Paul is writing to encourage Timothy and the same time recounting how much Onesiphorus refreshed him. Paul recounts how much effort Onesiphorus placed into finding Paul when he was imprisoned in Rome and how that refreshed him.

These moments of encouragement and joy is told within the backdrop of humiliation that Paul faced on the road to Damascus, met Christ, and blinded for 3 days. Not to forget the multiple times Paul was physically attacked and stoned during his missionary journey around the known world. On many occasions Paul was saved from murder plots and brought back to health by the local churches, like in Galatia (Galatians 4:14).

Many times, Paul writes in his epistles that he carried the scars of Christ on his body as joyful toiling for the brother and sisters in Christ. Not only was there joy in serving but the moments of encouragements were like a fresh breeze in Paul’s suffering for the church.

Many missionaries and ministry workers are toiling away in unknown corners of the world or in your own church. They can use a refreshing cold drink on hot days and a word of thanks when they are toiling for the Kingdom of God, it adds strength and perseverance for the next mile they have to go.

I encourage us all to be an Onesiphorus and refresh a brother or sister who is serving the Kingdom of God. That might require you to invite a visiting missionary, pastor, or ministry worker etc. to dinner or a stay at your home. So, let us have the fruit of the Spirit–of hospitality.

This verse beautifully encapsulates hospitality.

1 Peter 4:4-10
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace

Prayer:
God bless those who are busy serving God in faraway places. They may feel forgotten by the world, but may God shine His face on them and refresh them and let them know that God has not forgotten them.
Amen.