Clear Speaking

Col. 4:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

For sure if I were Paul I would have been thinking that he should have been out of prison, and able to speak freely so that the Gospel could have been more easily preached. Wasn't that what God had called him to do? It sure seems like it would have been more effective to have him out of prison.

But Paul isn't asking the believers to pray for his release; he is praying that a door would be open for him to preach from where his current state, and that he would have clarity of speech when he was given the opportunity.

I often am thinking that God could use me better if He just got me out of this jam and make it easier. He isn't in a hurry to get us out of our "prisons" and back to freedom. He is letting the trial do its perfect work, so that in the end we would be more complete in Him. We should be praying, like Paul, that God would give us an opportunity to speak and that we would have clarity of thought, and speech, when He gives it to us.

For sure God knew what He was doing with Paul, and knows what He is doing with us, and we can look back at His faithfulness in Paul's life for encouragement and strength when we are going through difficult times, and know that God will be faithful to do His work in us when we are content in the circumstance that we are in, because in Him is where we are truly to be.