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No Fairytale
Remember the story of Cinderella? Poor girl enslaved by her mean stepmother and stepsisters. Dressed in rags. No hope for her future until the ball. In a single night her life is changed forever. In the end, the prince rescues her and takes her to his kingdom to live happily ever after. Yes, yes, a nice fairy tale. In our verses today we read of something even more magnificent because it is true. We were in a far worse place than Cinderella, but the King, God the Father, transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son for all eternity. By the blood of His own Son, He redeemed us, forgave our sins, made us joint heirs with His Son, made us His children and will bring us to Himself for eternity. No fairy tale!
11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.[1]
Colossians 1:11-14
When I read about endurance and patience with joy and ponder some of my circumstances, I think, “You’ve got to be kidding. I may squeak through this, but God, you want me to be joyful too?” I’m so grateful that once again God is not calling us to a task for which He doesn’t equip us. Paul himself endured incredible suffering (2 Corinthians 11:16-33), but we see that even in prison he praised God (Acts 16:25). Joy is his theme throughout his letter to the Philippians. So, when Paul writes about endurance and patience with joy, he writes from experience. He writes knowing Who the source of joy is.
In verses 9 and 10, Paul has begun praying asking God that the Colossian believers would be growing in their knowledge of His will and that this knowledge would lead them to walk worthily of the Lord. Paul didn’t leave it at that. He knew they would need Supernatural help, so he continues his prayer with a request that they “be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might.” We need help and God has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us.
As so often we see with God, He abundantly provides for us. Paul uses three synonyms to emphasize his point. One word won’t suffice. First, the word strengthened is the Greek word dynamoō. Does it look vaguely familiar? We get our English word dynamite from it. It describes an inherent power similar to everything bundled up inside the cardboard wrapper of dynamite that causes the huge explosion. It is strength that enables us from the inside.
The second word power is similar to strengthened. The Greek is dynamis. It has a broader meaning than inherent power alone. It is often associated with miraculous power or force.
The third word is might. The Greek word is kratos. It can include the idea of dominion. Paul says “His glorious might” which even further describes the power he is praying to enable us. It is God’s very own power. I don’t know about you, but that blows my mind. What an amazing, faithful, generous Father we have to equip us so incredibly. Does “endurance and patience with joy” seem possible with this understanding?
Now that we know how amazingly God has equipped us, let’s look a little closer at what we are equipped for. Endurance is tied to difficult circumstances. We all experience trials at one time or another. For some it is the death of a loved one or a battle with cancer, chronic pain, or dementia. For others it is the loss or stress of a job, a spouse addicted to pornography, or a child who has turned away from their family and faith. Perhaps it is the darkness of depression or abuse. How do we endure through trial upon trial? Dr. V. Raymond Edman, late Wheaton College President said, “It is always too soon to quit.” We persevere despite the circumstances. We persevere because we are strengthened by the very power of God that we just discussed. We hold to that truth even when our circumstances seem overwhelming.
Paul also prayed that we would be equipped for patience. Patience focuses on enduring problematic people. We all have those in our lives too. Patience means we exercise self-restraint. We do not seek revenge. We know we have experienced God’s long-suffering towards us (2 Peter 3:9), so we can extend that to others. It is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), so we know that it isn’t a gift some possess, and others don’t. We also know that it is something we deliberately put on as children chosen by God (Colossians 3:12).
Both endurance and patience are qualified by the words all (there is no circumstance or person that is exempt from us enduring and being patient) and by joy. Joy is independent of circumstances and people. It is rooted in God, what He has done, and our identity in Him. It is a fruit of the Spirit, so it is another non-negotiable (oh, how we like to pick and choose our fruit of the Spirit, don’t we?).
Paul goes on to pray that we give thanks to the Father. We’ve just seen how mightily He has equipped us. Remember the beginning of today’s devotion and our “no fairytale”? That is even more reason to give thanks. The Greek word is eucharisteō. I am far from being a Greek scholar, but from the little I have studied, this has been one of my favorite words. It is a verb meaning “to be grateful or to give thanks.” It contains the word charis (grace). Chara, another derivative, means joy. Here in verses 11 and 12 we have a swirl of joy and thankfulness in light of God’s gift of grace specifically in His strength and inheritance that He gives us through redemption in Jesus.
If thankfulness is what we are “putting on”, complaining is what we are “putting off”. Paul David Tripp explains, “If praise is celebrating God’s awesome glory, then complaint is anti-praise. Not only does complaint fail to recognize His grandeur, it questions His power and character. If you believe that God is the Creator and controller of all that is, then it is impossible to complain about your circumstances without complaining about God. . . And if our contentment rests on life being easy, comfortable, and pleasurable, we'll have no contentment this side of eternity. Only when the awe of God rules your heart will you be able to have joy even when people disappoint you and life gets hard. Awe means your heart will be filled more with a sense of blessing than with a sense of want. You will be daily blown away by what you have been given rather than being constantly disturbed by what you think you need. Awe produces gratitude, gratitude instills joy, and the harvest of joy is contentment."[i]
It is important to note that we are not just thankful for the inheritance we receive, but we are thankful that God qualified us for it. It is His gift to us. On our own, we would never be qualified to receive it. We would be qualified only for God’s wrath. The Greek word hikanoō was used for an athlete who qualified to compete. Through Christ’s finished work on the cross, God qualifies or makes us sufficient to receive our inheritance.
Paul ends his prayer with a declaration of our status – a reminder of what God has done for us and an encouragement of who we are in Christ. God rescued us from danger and eternal death, from Satan’s domain. He then transfers us to His Son’s eternal kingdom. Transfer loses some of its meaning in our English and without the context of Paul’s time. When a ruler conquered a people, he would transfer defeated people back to his kingdom. In Christ, we are transferred as victors. Although we may still struggle with the sin belonging to the domain of darkness, Jesus broke the power of Satan over us. Satan no longer has rights to us. Jesus redeemed us by meeting the holy demands of God’s law through His death and resurrection. In Him we are forgiven. Jesus cancelled all our debt so we will never be under the domain of darkness again. This is our powerful motivation for walking worthily. Amen!
Reflection:
1. Have you felt ill-equipped for enduring difficult people and circumstances? How has the study of verse 11 altered how you will respond to difficult people or circumstances in your life? Be specific.
2. What have you complained about this week? Do you see how your complaint is actually against God? His sovereignty, goodness, faithfulness, power, etc.? Confess the sin of your complaint to God and replace it with thankfulness for good things in the same circumstance or person you complained about.
3. A couple years ago I read Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts Devotional[ii]. She had been challenged to write, over time, one thousand things she was thankful for. It made her, and me in reading her book, learn to look for all the little gifts of grace God has lavished on us every day. It has transformed my thinking to be more grateful throughout the day. Today, start your own thankful journal. You can start with things from today’s verses, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Keep going. Pray for eyes that see and search out God’s gifts of grace that are all around.
Note: For more from Colossians, order my devotional Journey Through Colossians.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 1:11–14.
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