Growing Pains

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,

—Colossians 1:9-11 NLT

Sometimes, the very storms we are praying against are the same storms God is using to clear the pathway to the answer to our prayers. The problem is that we are often taught to see the world in terms of “good” and “bad,” instead of seeing it in terms of “growth” versus “stagnancy.” Stagnancy is arguably a greater evil than bad times. The purpose of life is not to have things going good and easy for us all the time, as many of us would surely like. Our purpose here on earth is to grow, evolve, learn, and develop as much as we can in a lifetime. Our personal enrichment is the most valuable thing we can contribute to this planet while we are here. However, as the example is shown to us through babies who are teething or teenagers who are going through puberty, growth is almost always painful—literally, physically painful. Pain might be “bad,” but growth is ultimately very good. That is why we often quote Romans 8:28, which reminds us that everything is working together for our good, as long as we remain focused on the fact that we are called according to a certain purpose. There is even a purpose for your pain.

Have you ever prayed a nice wholesome prayer, expecting for something good to happen, and instead of things getting better like you prayed for, things immediately seemed to begin to get worse? The old folks used to say this happens because the “devil is trying to discourage you.” Some of us have even learned to defiantly fight against those things that seem to be getting worse in our lives when we pray. Remember that if you pray for a strong, healthy, growing child, you would not also then pray or fight for the baby to stop teething just because it causes them pain—neither would you pray or fight for your teenager to stop going through puberty just because it causes them discomfort. No—instead, you would pray for them to have patience, endurance, or strength to get through it. Sometimes, the answers to our prayers come in the form of the very things we have a tendency to desire to fight against.

In our reference verses today, the apostle writes, “we have not stopped praying for you since we heard of you.” He says they had been praying for the Colossians to have “knowledge, spiritual wisdom, and understanding.” This way the Colossians would “honor and please the Lord” and their “lives will bring forth every kind of good fruit.” However, then the apostle writes, “all the while you will grow as you get to know God better and better.” Here is where things start to get interesting. As soon as the topic of growth (for them to attain these blessings) comes up, what does the apostle say next? He then says, “We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.” When we are desiring growth to become what we are praying for, we must also remember to pray for endurance and patience. The testings and trials that prepare us for what we are praying for will force us to expand and to grow. Endurance is definitely needed for this process.

This reminds me of the time when Jesus said something unique to Simon-Peter in Luke 22:31-32. He said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” A little while afterwards, Jesus left the disciples forever and the process of “abandonment,” “isolation,” and “persecution” that each disciple experienced was exactly the stepping stone they needed to be elevated into their new missions as apostles. Ultimately, these new apostles  did greater works than Jesus, himself—as Jesus once predicted they would (John 14:12). The moral of the story is that, sometimes, we pray for our problems to go away instead of praying for endurance to overcome them. It is like going through a dark tunnel while on a long journey. Just because the tunnel is dark, does not mean you have permission to stop traveling! It is best to just keep on going. Keep moving forward. Just go through it—it will be over soon. Maya Angelou once said “Every storm runs out of rain.” So, how is your endurance? How is your ability to have patience as you grow into who God wants you to be? If you can endure through your growing pains, you will eventually see the answers to what you have been asking God for, in Jesus’ name.

Lots of Love, XO