With All His Energy

To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works within me. ~ Colossians 1:29

Have you ever been given a task, an assignment, a job, a purpose, and you looked at it and thought, "There's no way. There is just no way I could do that." I have to imagine that's what every "hero" of the Bible thought when they first heard their assignment. Consider Moses, who was assigned the task of delivering the Israelites from the powerful Egyptian Pharaoh, who told God that he couldn't and the people wouldn't believe God sent him, (see Exodus 3-4). Review the story of Ester, who was asked to approach the King to save the Israelites; she said she couldn't do anything or her life would be over, (see Ester 4). These are two "greats" in the Bible. Why? Were they the best dressed? Were they the smartest? No, what set them apart was their willingness to obey God's call.

In Colossians, Paul, who had been given the task to preach the Word of God to the ends of the earth, said, "To this end, I labor." He's going from town to town, village to village, to speak with as many people as will hear and receive the words God has given him to proclaim. But he was only one man; how could he do the huge task the Lord had assigned him? By not doing it on his own, in his own power or strength. Look at what he says, "To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works within me." The "his" he's referring to is Christ's power. We need to follow Paul's example and approach the tasks that God has assigned to us with the resolve that it is not by my power or my strength, but Christ who is at work within me.

If God has called you, then He will strengthen you, He will give you the tools, people, knowledge, wisdom, finances, everything you need. If God has called you, what are you waiting for?