To Encourage You

Colossians 1:11 “being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.”

In Paul’s wonderful prayer for the Colossian church, one of the things he prayed for was that the believers would “be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might.”  Whatever this was, the language used shows us that the strength Paul was asking for was a supernatural thing. It was something that would require the “glorious might” of God to be fulfilled, for it was something quite foreign to man’s natural ability.  So, what was it?  The answer given in the verse is “for all endurance and patience with joy.”  While the words “endurance” and “patience” are similar, they mean very different things, and both of them take great strength to practice, especially if they are to be practiced “with joy.”

The Greek word that is translated as “endurance” in this verse means “to bear trials; have fortitude; persevere.”  The word is used by Jesus in the parable of the soils in Luke 8, in which He identifies the “good ground” as “those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”  In this parable, they are contrasted with the soil along the path (where the seed, i.e., the Word of God, falls, but it is not understood and subsequently, not believed); the rock (those, “who when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away”), and among the thorns (“those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature”).  It takes the power of God to hold on to our faith when things come into our lives that just don’t make any sense, when trials come that shake us to our core, and when worldly temptations that promise short-term gain come at us from all directions.  It takes God’s mighty power in a life to endure such challenges to our faith.  But if God’s mighty power is truly in a person’s life, they will joyfully endure such things. 

Then there is the word “patience.”  The Greek word translated “patience” here means “patience with people.” It is a disposition to patiently bear injuries or hardships dealt to us by others.  It is what God demonstrated at the time of Noah, when “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5) yet “God’s patience waited” (1 Peter 3:20), i.e., He waited for many years for those people to repent.  It is the longsuffering of Jesus on the cross when He prayed “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  It is the strength to forbear the wrongs of others against us, particularly when we have the ability to take vengeance and repay evil with evil, yet patiently enduring and leaving the consequences to our longsuffering God.  Such attitudes are not natural.  We all know how Hollywood glorifies revenge.  However, God is glorified by supernatural patience, something that is possible only with the strength He gives.

And that’s just it, such endurance and patience is a gift of God, something to be asked of Him in prayer by those who truly want them.  And surely the “want to” will be in the heart of any true believer, for they, of all people, understand the great endurance and patience that God has shown towards them.  Paul, who prayed the prayer above for the Colossians knew this perhaps better than most.  He knew that he was formerly “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent” of the very God who had saved him (1 Timothy 1:13).  “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16).  Paul knew, that just as with any other spiritual fruit (love, joy, faith), we can have patience because Jesus first showered His magnificent patience on us.