Thought of the day
Paul finally gets back to the prayer he started in verse one of Ephesians 3, and it's worth noticing exactly what he asks for. He doesn't pray, "God, make their lives easy. Make everything work out the way they want." He prays, "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being" (Ephesians 3:16).
Notice where the strength comes from. Not from digging deep. Not from finding it within yourself. His riches. His power. His Spirit. Paul isn't cheering them on to try harder. He's asking God to give them something they don't already have on their own.
Some days you're not thinking about becoming a better version of yourself. You're just trying to make it to Tuesday. Your marriage is strained. You're waiting on test results. You're carrying something financial or physical or relational that almost nobody around you knows about. And when someone starts talking about becoming more like Jesus, all you can think is, "I don't have the bandwidth for that right now."
Hear Paul's prayer again: God, strengthen them. Jesus doesn't shame tired people. He doesn't tell someone who's barely hanging on to simply try harder. He offers strength they don't currently have.
Maybe your honest prayer today is simply, "Jesus, I need You. I don't know what to do here. I can't fix this on my own. Help me." That's not weak faith. That's dependence, and dependence starts to look a lot like Jesus, who himself depended completely on the Father.
Today, instead of gritting your teeth through whatever you're facing, ask God for what Paul asked for: not an easier life, but strength for the one you actually have.