Colossians 4:1-6

The following is a Bible study originally posted on our Bible Study Group.

First I want to apologize for forgetting to discuss Colossians 4:1 last
week: "Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that
you also have a Master in heaven." It goes so well with what we discussed
last time, I'm going to pass right over it, okay? If anyone wants to
mention something that pops out to them in this verse, please feel free.

Going on...

This week's verses are Colossians 4:2-6. "Continue earnestly in prayer,
being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that
God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ,
for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to
speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know
how you ought to answer each one."

This week's Bible study stands out to me as emphasizing prayer, especially
prayer that others would hear about and believe in Jesus Christ. For those
of you who have been here for the whole study on the book of Colossians, I'd
like you to notice how much of Colossians was devoted to our relationship to
God, then our relationship to our family, immediately followed by our
relationship to the world around us.

About 7 years ago, our family moved to Fort Myers, Florida, and we began
attending Daniels Road Baptist Church. It wasn't a very big church then,
and we were about the 5th young couple to attend -- everyone else was a
whole lot younger (kids) or a whole lot older (retirees). It was special to
be part of a new group of young couples (only one other family had children
at that point, and we only had a little baby).

For four years we were privileged to be a part of this growing congregation.
Our pastor was fabulous, and he was good at keeping us "on our toes" by
preaching sermons that seemed to speak to us exactly where we needed it. My
husband was a full-time student at that time, plus he worked a full-time
job. Often he couldn't attend church with me and our little son because he
was at school or work.

About our third year there, our pastor started a series of messages on the
urgency of missions and evangelizing the world around us. My friends and I
were in tears many times as God began to move among the young families in
the church. We understood the priority of a relationship with God, followed
by good relationships with our spouses and children. But many of us also
felt that we weren't doing all we could to reach out to our lost friends and
neighbors -- let alone, the unsaved on the other side of the world!

I remember several of my friends and I would discuss what it would be like
to leave America and move to a foreign country as a missionary. I also
remember complaining to God about my husband. He seemed so wrapped up in
his job and his studies, and he wasn't hearing all the wonderful sermons I
was. I wanted to be a missionary, and he just wanted to be a boring, ol'
teacher!

The hardest moment came when one of my closest friends called me early one
spring morning. She was in shock. Her husband had come home from work and
said that he firmly felt God's call into missions. He said that he'd prayed
about it, and he felt God wanted them to sell their home, apply with a
mission board, and go to Slovakia. He left the house a few hours later ,
and she immediately called me. "Anne," she wailed. "How can I leave my
home and my family? I'm just not sure I'm cut out to be a missionary!"

I remember feeling very jealous. I wanted to be a missionary so badly!
There were people on the other side of the world that desperately needed the
gospel! Why wouldn't God tell MY husband to be a missionary?

I spoke privately to my pastor's wife about what I was feeling, and she told
me to pray. She told me not to nag, not to gripe, but simply to pray.

Imagine my surprise when, only two or three weeks later, my husband received
a phone call, asking him to consider going into missions and working with
teens. Imagine my surprise when he said yes! You see, God had been working
in his heart all along. My husband hadn't said anything to me, so I had
assumed he just didn't care. But he did! (And he hadn't even heard all
those wonderful sermons...)

To make a long story short, we went through extensive training and prepared
for over a year to go to the country of France as missionaries. Then God
changed our direction once more and eventually brought us out here to
northern Arizona, to the Navajo Indians. And who knows where God may take
us yet?

What are some of the lessons I learned during those years?

(1) "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with
thanksgiving... (v. 2)" Prayer changes things! Kaylene brought out this
point several days ago when she talked about how she has seen God answer her
prayers. God wants us to be vigilant -- alert and intent (Amplified Bible).
Often we just pray haphazardly, without any real urgency. (See 1 Samuel 1
for the story of a vigilant, praying mother.) Rather, we are to pray
"earnestly," bringing our heart-felt needs before the Lord. Remember also
to pray with thanksgiving, showing a trusting attitude in God and a
willingness to accept whatever answer He gives, whether He answers yes or
no.

(2) "Praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to
speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make
it manifest, as I ought to speak... (v. 3-4)" God doesn't ask all of us to
uproot our families and move to the other side of the world. I think this
is one of the hardest lessons I've had to learn (being the adventuring sort
that I am). However, God DOES command ALL of us to pray. Are we praying
for our fellow-laborers in Christ? They need our prayers more than they
need our money or our letters. I am reminded again of my godly
grandmother's example. She had a huge bulletin board behind her kitchen
door, and "prayer cards" (photographs) of missionaries were literally
covering it. She and Grandpa would faithfully pray for each of those
missionaries every day. She never personally set foot on the mission field,
yet how many souls will be in heaven because of her faithfulness? On a
practical note, in this age of technology, I know some families that scan
photos of missionaries into their computers and display them on their screen
savers, being reminded in this way to pray. Others set their computers to
remind them each day to pray for certain ones... maybe those in South
America on Monday, Europe on Tuesday, etc.

(3) "Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let
your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how
you ought to answer each one (v. 5-6)." A little over a year ago, God
brought us to a remote area of the already-remote Navajo Indian Reservation.
We only knew we were moving here 5 weeks before we came. During that five
weeks, I remember researching the Navajo cultures and customs on the
Internet, wondering what our new life would be like and how we would share
the gospel with them. Believe me, you can't get much different than
metropolitan French and ancient Navajo! I also remember being very
discouraged and frustrated when, after we moved here, I found myself living
in "teacher housing," surrounded by over 100 homes of white,
English-speaking teachers and their families. It didn't feel any different
than Missouri! I wanted to be a REAL missionary, not just a housewife stuck
at home all day, changing diapers and homeschooling a first grader.
However, as the weeks went by, we found our home becoming a center of
attraction for lonely teachers who were far from home. We had dinners
together, night after night after night. (I began to wonder if I'd ever get
to eat supper with just US again...) Everyone wanted to do everything
together. We were exhausted as teachers would stay at our house until 11:30
or midnight, talking and sharing their hearts. Their kids would play with
our kids' toys, then leave without cleaning up anything.

Through the last year, God has been continually reminding me of these
verses. All those shared meals, conversations and holidays opened up many,
many opportunities to casually talk about God. We've pointed at the Grand
Canyon and had open doors to discuss evolution vs. creationism. We've been
able to teach parenting classes and childbirth classes, all the while
telling about God and His Word. Have I always known how to answer everyone?
No way! It's tough when they see how I live everyday, when they catch me
occasionally losing my temper with my kids, when they ask very direct
questions about my marriage.

God wants us to redeem the time. And I firmly believe that He wants us to
start right here, where we live today, with the house across the street or
next door. He wants us to show hospitality, to be inconvenienced, to pray
continuously for open doors to share His good news with people that live
normal, hopelessly-without-Christ lives. He may call a few to the foreign
mission field, but He calls US to the right-where-we-live-now mission field.
How we treat our children, how we submit to our husbands, how faithful we
are to our church -- all of these things leave a huge impression on our
watching neighborhoods.

Thank you for putting up with this long e-mail. I pray that we will all see
that we don't live in a vacuum. Whether we have stacks of laundry to fold
or sibling quarrels to break up, we have a responsibility to pray earnestly
and to live "gracefully," always being mindful of watching eyes and hungry
hearts.


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