Colossians 1:11

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

In this section of this letter from Paul to the Colossians Paul is listing things that he and his fellow saints are praying for that the Colossians may receive from God. So, as believers of the same God, we can expect to be strengthened by his power to have the endurance and patience to follow him, and to be joyful in that endurance and patience. Now I don't know about everyone else, but I am rarely joyful in having patience and endurance. It sucks having to wait for things, it sucks having to train for things, and it sucks not knowing why we are waiting and training for those things. Both in a worldly and spiritual sense. But yet we are supposed to find joy in all those sucky things. James 1:2-3 ESV “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” If you think about it, one of the more consistent ways in which God gives us patience and endurance in things is when we are persevering through trials, no matter how small they may seem, they are trials none the less. And in this verse from James it says to find joy it in because we know it produces steadfastness. Some synonyms for steadfast are firm, fixed, established, unchanging, unwavering, constant. God is trying to strengthen our faith when he is putting us through our trials. He is trying to mold us so that when difficult situations come our way that we will be established in our faith in God, fixed on him, constant, firm, unwavering, and unchanging in our faith that we put in him. God is always giving us the tools and knowledge to better understand his plan for us. 1 Corinthians 9:25 NIV “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” And the great thing is is that he is always training us. He is always pushing us to be more and more like Christ, and how can we not love that. He is trying to perfect our character, and he is giving us the strength to perfect it. Philippians 1:6 ESV “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Tomorrow I will write a list of all the ways that God has improved my character during my time here at Ignite.

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