six words. one question. life altering.

This one’s short and sweet, people. Six words. One question. The answer to which determines the trajectory (<-- my favorite word) of our lives.

“Who am I trying to please?”

 

 

God graciously flipped the tables on me recently. Proverbially. He pulled back the veil. He opened my eyes to a deeply affecting truth that trying to please anyone anyone other than Him won’t work out how I hope. Because trying to please anyone other than Him is…well…idolatry. Yep. The “i” word hurts.

I won’t go into the gory (or not-so-gory) details of how He showed me my flesh tendencies to please certain people, but recognizing it for what it is and repenting to my God for vainly trying to put someone where only He belongs, has ushered in a new freedom. It has shifted something in me. It has brought a fresh confidence to walk in who He declares me to be — holy, righteous, called, equipped, daughter of the Most High God because of Jesus.

 

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?
Or am I trying to please man?
If I were still trying to please man,
I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:10

 

The enemy is crafty. He connivingly beckons our hearts down roads paved with tricky little lies that sound somewhat godly. But the end is death — death of joy and death of confidence and death of experiencing the identity Jesus died to give us.

So I leave you with the question that God’s been asking me in recent days, “Who are you trying to please?” Don’t cuss me. Just think about it. Really think about it. Ask Him to show you. And then be ready. Because repentance leads to healing and healing leads to joy and joy leads to dancing and dancing leads to…people staring. But let ’em stare. In Christ, we’re dancing in the pleasure of our Father.

 
Fill me, Lord…

Have you struggled to please certain people? How did that turn out for you?