...As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.
We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives.
It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us...
...From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.
Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross...
We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives.
It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us...
...From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.
Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross...
"As you learn more about how God works," Paul says...
Isn't that a mouthful?
Who can imagine learning more about the workings of God? And yet, that kind of learning has to be the goal of all who follow in the path of Jesus.
Maybe another way to talk about this learning is, "insight," or "perspective."
What allowed Paul to rejoice in his hardships and sufferings? What kept him so assured of God's purposes in Jesus, even when things looked their darkest, both for him and the tiny band of Christian disciples that he led?
An understanding of how God works.
God works for redemption. In Jesus, we're told, "all things hold together."
The world around us tempts that understanding every day. As I scan the news this morning, there are stories of abducted children, murder and evil of all kinds.
How can God allow us to be so bad?
The truth is, there is so much good around us as well. I know, too, that on this day, millions of acts of kindness and goodness will be done throughout the world.
I know that where "unendurable" things have happened, those who endure in faith will claim victory over that evil in the name of Jesus and all that is good, right and holy.
I think Paul's greatest fear might have been that Jesus' people would ever just give up. And so he reminds us: Jesus' grace is spacious, towering and beautiful. All things will fit together...because "God so loved" this world.
Prayer: It is beyond our imaginations to truly imagine how all created things hold together in Christ: but our faith and experience tell us that it is true. May we be reconciled to God through the life of Christ.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.
Tomorrow's Scripture: Luke 1:68-74
2 comments:
The part of the scripture that just jumped out at me was this:
"We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul - not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives."
When I pray in the evenings, I always ask for His strength because I am well aware that I have none where it counts. Lifting weights, for sure, isnt going to make me stronger against temptations. It takes a strength of will and faith - both of which we are all lacking.
Here, Paul is saying that we cant do this relying on our own strength. Dont kid yourself. I cant count on all my fingers and toes how many times I told God that I would figure out a way to overcome something. How foolish and proud of me, right? How about you?
No, Paul says to rely on the "glory-strength" (such an awesome phrase!) of God.
Man, that scripture really stood out to me as well. Sometimes I feel like I am strong enough to overcome things and then when it rolls around before I know I am already falling into the temptation. I need that God Strength...there is no way I can fight off Satan alone...no way.
I know what you mean...I tell God that I will overcome stuff all the time.
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