The other day I was praying through Colossians 1:9-14. I was praying about myself which is interesting because the passage is about praying for others. When I came to the part where it says, “Being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you have great…”  The next word I said in my mind was abundance. 

I paused. Abundance isn’t the correct answer. The passage says, “So that you have great endurance and patience.” I thought about how I would rather have abundance, but conceded endurance is a much more needed quality in my life. Love requires endurance and patience more than it requires abundance. 

I think of this considering some of my daily mottos. One motto comes from a Mary Oliver poem called, “The Messenger.”  She starts, “My work is loving of the world.”  I pray about this and wonder how can I carry out this work? She offers some ideas such as standing still, learning to be astonished, giving thanks for all the daily wonders God has created. She names the phoebe (a beautiful bird), the delphinium (a wand-like shoot of vibrant blossoms), the clam, and the wren. I would probably list the Helix Nebula or the Mystic Mountain in the Carina Nebula, or a snow leopard cub, or a golden eagle. I notice it does take great endurance and patience to set aside the phone, task, anxiety, or news and instead intently thank God for these specific wonders. 

My other motto is, “Love is in the one on one.” It was a mission my dad lived. Calling, texting, making people top priority because Dad believed human souls are eternal. He would take time to picture people in his mind, imagining a person’s face, what they might be wearing or doing and how he could pray and encourage them in the week ahead. This too requires great endurance and patience to imagine, to sit in silence, to picture each astonishing person, and to follow through with prayer and service. 

As I remember and thank God for the glorious works of His hand both in the heavens and on earth, or the individual people He has created, I realize I already have infinite abundance.   
 
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, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience – Colossians 1:9-11

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