Find Your Fit
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9-10 NKJV.
There’s nothing quite like finding your fit. Finding, being in, and knowing we are doing what we’re meant to do, and we are where God wants us to be. This is a huge subject, but an exciting one. Some people find it a struggle, others its easier.
I have a mechanical background, and I just love pieces of engineered steel that are of such precision that they fit perfectly together and work as intended. The engine in your car is a great example. When all those parts have the right fit, your engine works and provides the drive to move your vehicle.
There’s serious trouble when that fit is either too small or too large. Basically it’s an expensive repair, to return all those moving and stationary parts to their proper fit.
In this last year I’m sure we all found ourselves doing things we didn’t plan to, functioning in roles we didn’t ask for, and having to come up with answers we don’t have, to questions we’ve never thought of. But, God’s grace enabled us to function.
I do believe even in these COVID-19 times, that God will put the right people in the right places with the right gifts, to make a Kingdom impact.
A study of Paul’s prayers is very interesting, but this one, recorded in Colossians 1, is incredible.
He says: For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Colossians 1:9 NKJV.
Recently when I read these words, I couldn’t stop thinking about them: … filled with the knowledge of His will…
What a wonderful thought! To be filled with the knowledge, the knowing, the understanding of God’s will.
Is that where you’re at right now? Are you secure in knowing God’s will for your life, and have you found your fit in life and serving God? I believe we can know God and His will.
Paul had heard of their faith and that they were living a good life. But he prayed that they might be better. Notice what his desire was for the Colossian Christians; … filled with the knowledge of His will . He prays for two things.
First, that they would have a knowledge of His will. That they’d be informed by a true wisdom and spiritual understanding. To know God and what He requires of us is our first responsibility.
There is a dimension to whatever we do, be it practical service or whatever, that is spiritual; it works in the realm of the Kingdom of God. What we do as the will of God is not just for this earth, but for Heaven’s benefit as well, it is for the Lord, it is for this world and its people but it is for beyond this world to the real world, the Kingdom of God. We need to understand, come to an awareness and a peace about how our will of God for us, fits into the larger Kingdom scheme of things.
Second, Paul prays walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. He prayed that they would live according to the same knowledge they had received, living out a walk worthy of the Lord. This is a familiar pattern, repeated over and over again in the New Testament.
Our walk is based on our knowledge of God and our understanding of His will. That is very important!
My prayer is that I, my family and those I love might be, filled with the knowledge of His will – in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, and walk worthy of the Lord – fully pleasing Him.
My prayer is that we may discover the joy, peace, and fulfilment of knowing God and His will for our lives. It is a place of liberty, freedom, security, strength, and joy. It is a defence against the wiles of the enemy, it is a source of energy and passion, it is a focus that deflects distractions. It is a wonderful place to be in. It is the place where God blesses and anoints and empowers. Knowing God and His will helps us say yes to what we should do, and no to what we could do but isn’t the will of God.
When we surrender to His will, we actually have increased authority and power to do what we do and live life.
There’s nothing quite like a life surrendered to God, who knows God in a personal way, and from that closeness and communion, comes the knowledge of His will, and the grace to walk worthy and fully pleasing to Him.
We can know God and we can know His will.
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Genesis 2:15 NKJV.
God gave Adam:
- Location. — The garden. Can change as God’s will unfolds.
- Vocation. — Tend the garden. Virtually never changes our whole life.
It’s much the same with us. Our location, where we serve, the area, district, locale, part, position, situation, station, post, can change.
But the purpose, calling, duty, field, the lifework, assignment, mission and pursuit, rarely changes. Where we outwork that does, but at heart we carry a vocation with us for life. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29 NKJV.
In my own life this has been the case. I have served in various roles, positions, and places, but all the time, my whole life I have carried a purpose and a calling, a vocation, an assignment, to care for God’s people, to share His Word with them. Vocation is important and matters a great deal, location is important too, but it changes from time to time to bring about a fresh expression of our vocation.
It’s wonderful to be in the right place at the right time for the right reasons with the right skills and a right heart – then we get the right results; and God is glorified! These are what God brings into alignment so that His purposes and His plans will be worked out.
Then we can be confident we walk worthy of the Lord — and are — fully pleasing Him.
How do we find our fit? How do we find God’s will for us? That’s a huge issue too, but in short, it comes out of an ongoing relationship with God, by being in Him, and by reading and hearing His Word.
James O Davis says, “Success is defined as finding the will of God, following the will of God and finishing the will of God.”
A great and timely word for me today, thanks Stephen. I will share from this in our women’s prayer group this week and will reference you, if that is ok? Thank you! It was a blessing to hear about your journey as a writer and to meet you at the writers retreat. Tui