Verse Map No. 2 – Colossians 1:9-12
Stop Straining, Abide and He Will
Oh wow! This is interesting. I’m just realizing as I type that I studied verses “9-12” (of Colossians, chapter one) from Tuesday, January 9th through Friday, January 12th! Wow. Wow. Wow. That’s pretty cool. It’s like Father Rohr wrote in a meditation that I read yesterday: “When we see contemplatively, we know that we live in a fully sacramental universe, where everything is an epiphany.” I love how real this is in my day-to-day life.
Anyway, yes, this “verse map” took four, consecutive mornings of contemplation. I’m absolutely enjoying the challenge that this approach to God’s Word is providing me — to stay (in a set of verses) and study (slowly).
Let’s dive into one of the takeaways I gained!
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
Colossians 1:9-12
In these verses, Paul is imprisoned in Rome and writing to the church of Colossae, correcting a few misunderstandings about “knowledge,” their access to it, where it comes from, and its emptiness without a life changed by it.
It’s made clear that God is pleased when we:
- bear fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control)
- grow in knowledge of Him, by the wisdom and understanding of the Spirit
- are strengthened to patiently endure the “services, temptations, and trials” of our calling and
- give joyful thanks for our sharing in the inheritance of the saints of light.
However, John 15:4-5 says: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
Do you know what that means?
None of these things that please God are within our active ability! We cannot check the boxes! Not apart from Him, anyway.
This checklist is of items that passively occur without much need from our own willpower – when we abide in Him. They are natural occurrences. There’s nothing for us to actually do in order to “live a life worthy,” aside from being with Him. When we remain in Him, He remains in us – and He bears the fruit! He grows our knowledge, He strengthens us to endure, and He fills us with undeniable joy.
I find it interesting that He provided me with a real-life example this very week of how I clearly lapse in “bearing the fruit of the Spirit,” when I haven’t remained in Him – specifically in the area of self-control. I’m genuinely starting to love when He allows me to mess up — when He allows me to stumble — in order to allow me to see who I am apart from Him. When we stay near Him, He makes Himself and “knowledge of His will” known, and He gives us ample opportunities to see, tune in, and learn just how applicable the living and breathing truth of His Word really is.
Yesterday, I wrote myself a birthday card.
Why?
Well, as my husband affectionately says, I am “so weird.” Haha! It’s true! I am!
But also, I’m not special – my life hasn’t been any harder than any of yours, I’m sure. That being said, there has been heartache. There have been mountains and there have been valleys. And I just wanted to write myself a card to acknowledge and celebrate how I remained, how I stuck it out, and how I’ve experienced treasures along the way. I spent the whole day really, truly celebrating the life I’ve been given and the place I’ve found myself – right here, right now. I wish I could share my stories of heartache with you in order to provide you with the evidence of what I really mean about His provision and care, and to encourage you in your journey – maybe one day I will; right now, I don’t know how to do so without causing pain to others who play roles in the stories they share with me.
Anyway, in my birthday card to myself, I reflected on how cool it’s been to witness my hope remain, my strength increase, and my faith grow despite and amidst one hill and one valley after the other . . . my whole life through.
My hope has remained, my strength has increased, and my faith has grown – not because of anything of my own doing, aside from my abiding in Him and Him in me.
I have wandered and I have stumbled; I have fallen and have fallen hard.
Each and every time, though, He’s chased after me. He’s chased after me no matter how long or how far I’ve strayed. He’s chased and chased, waiting for the perfect moment — when He knew I was ready — to tap me on the shoulder and motion me “home.” He’s done the chasing. He’s done the chasing and then the moment I’ve turned toward Him to “re-abide” – [is that a word?] – the fruit, knowledge, strength, and joy picked right back up where they’d left off.
Not because of me. Because of Him.
To live a life worthy of our calling, we must simply abide – rest in the presence of The One who is already worthy. He then creates a life “worthy” in the one that we’re living – a life that checks the boxes, all by His own doing.
I’ve never had a “word” of the year. But after 35 years of straining and trying, of working to create a life deemed “worthy,” I’ve thought about choosing “enjoy” as a reminder to stop working so hard and instead lean into His provision and grace, and reflect His goodness. Instead, I’m choosing “abide” – the more I abide in Him, the more there will be to “enjoy” . . . even amidst every exercise in endurance, strength, and patience.
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If this resonates with you and you’re intrigued to hear more about how God shows up, providing what we need in order to live the life He’s called us to, check out the fourth episode of Christy Knockel’s podcast, Glorious in the Mundane (GITM) that I started listening to this morning. Coincidentally, she just so happens to mention “epiphanies,” “drawing near,” and “abide.”
You don’t have to try so hard. Lay it all down, my friend. Abide. Stop straining, abide and He will take care of the rest. Simply abide with the Lord who loves you and your life will be deemed worthy because The One who is worthy resides within you.
Songs of relevance:
- In The Room, Chandler Moore, Maverick City Music, and Naomi Raine
- God Is In This Story, Katy Nichole & Big Daddy Weave
- Eyes Locked On The King, Abbie Gambo
- Goodness of God, Bethel Music
- Peace Be Still, Lauren Daigle & The Belonging Co
- Trust in God, Chris Brown & Isaiah Templeton
- Heart of the Father, Ryan Ellis
- Grace Upon Grace, Alive City & Metro Collective Worship