16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. 17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. ~ II TIMOTHY 4:16-17
***
There is so much about this 4th chapter of II Timothy. It was the prophet’s commission, and by his own confession he only read the first five verses. The sixth verse on is very telling on what Paul went through in his own ministry and what the prophet realized was also happening in his own. The total rejection and feeling of being forsaken mirrors that which Christ experienced on the Cross. Paul calls it the “mouth of the lion”. He could be referring to persecution in general, but I don’t think so. He had to endure many hardships, as we also do, but the hardship and trial is not the main thing. It is what we do with it that matters. It is our reaction that can be the "mouth of the lion" to us.