What is the best use of God’s power?

I have been re-reading Colossians 1:10-12 where Paul shares the secret of what it means to live a life fully pleasing to God. Not partially or mostly, but fully.

I want to know!

10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: (1) bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (2) 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; (3) 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^e to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Today is about item #2

…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might… This sounds wonderful! I want to live a life empowered by the power of God Himself!

What is the power for?

Drum roll please. …so that you may have great endurance and patience with joy; (v. 11)

I can’t get it off my mind.

• Not for living our dreams, like when people say their dreams must be from God because He put them there.
• Not for achieving our goals, like when I have heard Olympians claim Philippians 4:13: I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
  
• Not for doing great things for God, like when people say God will bless our ministries with grand results because we are serving Him.
• Not for rescuing us from trials, like when people say that because God loves us He will solve our difficult circumstances and transform our difficult people.

None of these.

God’s power has been clearly evident in our lives in all the ways listed above. But here is the point and what I can’t get off my mind. Perhaps what most pleases God — what most fully pleases God — is when His power is used for endurance and patience with joy. Meditating on this principle makes me not want to run from my trials. This thought makes me see the beauty in staying in difficult circumstances and trusting God with something that doesn’t look grand.

As Joni Eareckson Tada recently posted:

God’s grace to sustain us through painful circumstances is stronger and is mightier and is much better than deliverance out of those circumstances.* (italics by Joni)

For normal people

To the millions of us who live a life that is not grand in the world’s eyes, we can still be grand in God’s eyes. A plain life — a normal life — does not prevent us from God’s power being used perhaps in the very best way possible and from living a life fully pleasing to Him.

I hope you are as encouraged this week as I am.

Picture Explanation: To all the dad’s in my family, Happy Father’s Day! Thank you for all you do.

*Joni Eareckson Tada posted this on IG on June 8, 2024 @joniandfriends.

Speaking of living a short life that is fully pleasing to God: Our summer online study is underway! If you are interested in participating in an online One Gritty Blink Bible study this fall, click on the Oaks Ministries link below and send me an email so I can place you on a list to be contacted as online and face-to-face studies are planned. Let’s not just focus on things in this short life, but also what counts for eternity.

Note: No part of my posts are derived from A.I. Thoughts and writing stem from my mind and heart as I process life week-by-week and continue to grow in my understanding of God and how to apply His wisdom to the world around me.

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