Filled to the Brim

COLOSSIANS 1:9

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”

Too often I’m tempted to pray for external things for myself and those I love. The deeper spiritual things can be so nebulous. They also take longer to change and are harder to spot when God does answer those prayers.
 

Our Super Power

Paul didn’t pray for the external needs of the Colossian Christians—a new house, a new job, a new wagon (car)—he prayed for them to be “filled to the brim” [pléroó in the Greek] with the knowledge of God’s will for their life. That requires a special kind of understanding—spiritual wisdom.

Spiritual wisdom is not something we get from going to college, not even a divinity school. It is a quite literally a “super power” given to us by God’s Spirit. Think of it like ESP—Extra Spiritual Perception. We see and hear things differently than everyone around us.

This type of ESP is stupid to people who don’t “get” Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). But those who are teachable to God’s Spirit see it for the treasure it is. Further, they get that Jesus is not only the delivery system for this spiritual wisdom, he is the wisdom, “our righteousness, holiness, and redemption” (v.30). And when we have him (it), we can literally brim over with understanding.
 

Understanding = Change

Sometimes that understanding is wonderful, like our salvation. But sometimes, it is challenging and even painful, like why God is allowing us to go through the current crisis we are experiencing in our marriage.

Sometimes we’re not sure we want to see or understand what He’s doing because it means we have to change. Our areas of transformation aren’t the same as our spouse’s, but, speaking from experience, they feel just as difficult.

However, when we choose to consistently drink deeply from God’s Word, we can use that ESP in our own life, seeing and hearing things differently than we ever did before. This produces the kind of change in our life that Paul talks about in Romans 12:2 when we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Only then will we be able to “test and approve what God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will” is for our life.

Two Questions

• Are you reading God’s Word to be FILLED TO THE BRIM with His will for your life?
• Are you seeing yourself and/or your spouse with worldly eyes or with God’s spiritual wisdom and understanding?

I pray this is so. Only when we see our lives through God’s lens can we know with a certainty which direction we need to take in our challenging marriage.