Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. (I Thessalonians 3:10) It would be easy to see this one as a negative thing. Paul wanted to get back to the Thessalonians to supply what’s lacking in their faith, to fix what they’ve broken, to rub their noses in their failure and whip them into shape. Not a happy idea. Now look at it from another perspective. I know lots of people in the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Florida have places have been damaged or destroyed by Helene and Milton. Imagine a group of people showing up with tarps for roofs, lumber, screws and drill/drivers, and the knowledge of how to help repair the damage done by the world. Back in the fall of 2020, when I went to my park, I knew the Canadians wouldn’t be able to get there to take care of their places, so I started weeding gardens. I didn’t think, “Oh those horrible Canadians, why can’t they keep their places up?” If I can demonstrate
Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. (Colossians 4:12) Oh, now here’s a prayer request sure to rankle the flesh of some. “Mature? I’m mature! I’m over 70 (over 40, over 30, over 18)!” I’m the other way. I’m still trying to figure out what I’m supposed to be when I grow up, but I understand the irritation because among the big contestants for what I want to be is “perfect,” and my failure in that rankles, too. Put into proper context, however, the prayer request is just a little different. Epaphras prayed that the Colossians would stand firm in the will of God. This brings Ephesians 6 to mind, where, we’re told to stand firm as soldiers in armor. Here, the standing firm involves maturity and full assurance. Maturity is the state of being complete in natural (or spiritual in this c