Paul wrote from time to time about the persecutions that he underwent, facing physical abuse, imprisonment, abandonment, even death. In 2 Timothy 4:17, he wrote: "But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth." In this particular context, Paul had just written in verses 10-16 that he had been forsaken by all who were with him when he was tried. But he was able to stand because he stood on God's promise to never leave him. He understood that nothing could stop him as long as the Lord sustained him in the work that He had called him to do.
I remember a young man once speaking to a youth group and talking about a time when he moved to a new city and fell out of fellowship with God because he did not have a strong group of Christians around him. While I sympathize with the difficulty of the situation, I cannot help but wonder at the "faith" in the Word of God that cannot withstand what can only be called a light trial. I am in no way suggesting that he was not a true Christian. I do, however, want us to consider what the outcome would be if we were in similar circumstances. Do you have the spiritual maturity to take responsibility for your own relationship with the Lord? Would we behave as though we cannot be held responsible for our actions when we momentarily have to stand with no one else physically present but God? If not, then can we really expect to be useful to Him? I don't mean to belittle the importance of fellowship with other Christians; in fact, I hold it to be vitally important, and more importantly, so does the Lord (Hebrews 10:25). But to throw our hands up and think "oh well, we tried," when atmospheric conditions are less than ideal is a sign that something might be very wrong.
The best thing about the life of a Christian is that it was never intended to be done on our own strength. No matter what comes, we can know that the Almighty God is with His people, and that we are not alone. We can know that He sustains His people when we are carrying out the work that He has for us.
"The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen"-2 Timothy 4:18