Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Free translation - In the Waiting Room - Waiting as we should


I was backing up photos from the last few months and noticed several pictures of our daughter in waiting rooms. While is true that every time we leave the house our hands are full with her books and toys,  I must admit that she is well-behaved. She is always focused on something else while she is waiting.

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…” (Colossians 1:9-10, NIV)

These Bible verses suggest that in order to “live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way”, in order to be “well-behaved”, we also need to focus on something else. But this is not achieved by including it as a New Year’s resolution; we need more than a self-help book; it is not a matter of willpower. We need to be filled with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.

Many people get worried whenever they hear about the “will of God” thinking that it is a very difficult riddle intended to make us fail. But most of God’s will is already revealed in His Word.  The following verses from Colossians 1 show us that part of God’s will was his redemptive plan through Christ.  To be filled with the knowledge of his will is to know about this plan. Our plans are meaningless until they get connected with God’s master plan for salvation. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Colossians 1: 15-20 (NLT) adds:

1. Christ is the image of the invisible God. (Ver. 15)

2. The firstborn over all creation. (Ver. 15)

3. All things were created through him and for him. (Ver. 16)

4. He is before all things and holds together all things. (Ver. 17)

5. Christ is the head of the church. (Ver. 18)

6. He is the beginning ... he has the supremacy. (Ver. 18)

7. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ (Ver. 19)

8. Through him God reconciled all things. (Ver. 20)

9. He made the peace through the blood of Christ shed on the cross. (Ver. 20)

These are amazing and powerful truths. Everything has purpose in Him. Even our present troubles,  and unanswered questions have purpose on Him. What seems against His plans has purpose on Him. Thrones or powers or rulers or authorities will show His glory one day. He can hold everything even if it is collapsing. What is life-threatening, death itself, was conquered by Him. If all the fullness of God dwelled in Him, then our problem is not greater than Him. He can fix what is broken. We are not enemies anymore; there is peace with God through Christ.

So, how not to wait as we should? How not to live a life worthy of the Lord? Here and now, from the waiting room, we can contemplate His glory. How should we pray? To be filled with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. May His truth be more relevant and captivating than the waiting time. May we sing “I've just seen Jesus and I'll never be the same again”.

Becky

All rights reserved. Rebecca Parrilla, October/2015

 

 

 

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