Passage
preach the word; be earnest in season, out of season, convict, rebuke, exhort, in all long-suffering and teaching,
2 Timothy 4:2 (YLT)
Nearby Context
2 Timothy 4:1 I do fully testify, then, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to judge living and dead at his manifestation and his reign--
2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be earnest in season, out of season, convict, rebuke, exhort, in all long-suffering and teaching,
2 Timothy 4:3 for there shall be a season when the sound teaching they will not suffer, but according to their own desires to themselves they shall heap up teachers--itching in the hearing,
2 Timothy 4:4 and indeed, from the truth the hearing they shall turn away, and to the fables they shall be turned aside.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "preach", "word", "earnest", "season", "convict", "rebuke", and "exhort". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "preach" and "word", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 1's "I do fully testify then before God..." into verse 3's "for there shall be a season when...", so "preach" and "word" belong inside that flow. In 2 Timothy context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "preach" and "word" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.