¹⁶ At my first defense, no one stood by me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be counted against them. ¹⁷ But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that I might fully preach the word and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. (2 Timothy 4:16-17 CSB)

Have you ever experienced a time when it felt like the whole world was against you? A time when even your closest friends stood apart and did not come to your aid?

Hopefully not. However, if you live long enough this will possibly happen to you. It is why it is so important to have a group of friends who accept you come what may. Yet, we often find even unconditional love from others comes with limits.

We must make sure that our reasoning and situation are sound. If we are unhappy about people abandoning us but what we are doing is putting ourselves and others in compromise, we need to first assess our motives and reasoning.

But even when our motives and reasoning are sound and follow scriptural teaching, we may be abandoned. This can be especially true when we are standing upon scriptural truth. There is a fine line between taking a righteous stance and being holier-than-thou.

It can be hard to stand upon our faith, values and morals. These can pit us against friends and colleagues. It may cost us in ways we never expected. But in this we must too be very sure that where we stand puts us in right standing with God.