Colossians 4: 12 Greetings from Epaphras,
another member of your group and a servant of Christ Jesus. He always prays
fervently for you, asking God to make you stand firm, as mature and fully
convinced Christians, in complete obedience to God's will. 13 I can personally testify to
his hard work for you and for the people in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 Luke, our dear doctor, and
Demas send you their greetings.
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Looking outside, I
could see the wind thrashing wildly against the tall bushes. Heavy rain and
lightning followed. During the storm I noticed delicate items like bird food
and flower pots were not moving. I drove around later and a large tree was
broken at the trunk. Why did the delicate items survive?
- I wondered why people go through troubles.
- I pondered about people who seem to go through life easy while others seem to have nothing but storms.
- I looked at the tremendous force blowing all around and wondered why something so delicate could be protected.
Epaphras prays a
different prayer for everyone. Knowing there were many circumstances that were
out of his control, he went straight to the source and prayed for GOD to “make”
them stand firm. This was a bigger prayer that included the circumstances as
well as the outcome.
My Observations
- GOD doesn’t mind me praying for a trial to go away for me or another person.
- My growth in GOD also includes becoming mature, fully convinced and completely committed to obeying the LORD.
- GOD is the source of “making” others stand firm and becoming mature and being fully convinced that HE is the only answer.
Looking at the
circumstance can take my eyes off of GOD. I mean, I may be praying for the
storm to go away instead of marveling that GOD can protect me in the middle of
strong winds that come against me. I am no match for the storms. I have no
weapons and the storms are frightening. BUT GOD is the source.
HE is the one I can
go to and ask that HE orchestrate the circumstances in his or her life so he or
she will be able to stand firm. GOD owns growth and standing firm as a fragile
item shows HIS protective power. I am glad HE is the source that I can go to
for a bigger prayer than the circumstance.
Challenge
- What is the prayer style of Epaphras?
- Did he ask GOD to make the problems go away or for GOD to do something else?
- Can you take your eyes off of the circumstance for a moment and marvel at GOD’s tremendous power to protect someone as delicate as you?
Prayer
Dear LORD, please
make this reader stand firm, as a mature and fully convinced believer of JESUS,
in complete obedience to YOUR will. amen
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