(1
Samuel 15:24) “…I have sinned. I
violated the LORD’s command…I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to
them.”
See when rejection
occurs a person puts up walls to prevent it from happening again. And it’s these walls around your heart
that make you unable to love and be loved. Jonathan was King Saul’s son and experienced many of the
same moments as his father, but you notice Jonathan does not have the same set
of fears. Instead he often is seen
operating in faith that his God is better and bigger than his fears. Jonathan is the embodiment of this
following Scripture.
(Proverbs
28:14) “Blessed is the man who
always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.”
In my years as a pastor
I have encountered many people with hard hearts, people with life experience
producing a jaded tough skinned individual. So it is wise to listen to the Bible when it tells us to
keep our hearts tender. Our tender
heart opens an avenue for a close relationship with God and without it we will
find ourselves lost and distant. It
also gives us the ability to love people, especially those that are unlovable!
To be honest I think we
all have a wall of some sort surrounding our hearts. So asking you and me to drop our walls and our guards does
not mean you let people and life walk all over you. As a matter of fact there was a quote I came across when I
first started my pastorate that has helped me with this balance, “to survive in
ministry (life), you have to have tough hide and a tender heart – and try not
to get them reversed.” I love
that!
For us to be human and
express the grace and love God has for broken people you and I need to be like
that quote. Here are a few ideas
on how to keep this in balance.
1. Say
“no” to pleasing people.
Yeah I know, it’s an obvious point, but it’s
tough. Especially when every day
you have to decide who you’re going to please. The apostle Paul got a hold of this.
(Galatians
1:10) “Am I now trying to win the
approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still
trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
“Am I going to please people?” I have to
remember that if I do, it’s a trap.
Now I am not telling you to be rude, but some of us are approval
addicts. We are always wondering what other people are thinking and doing and
if what we are doing is acceptable to them. If you have to have someone else’s approval it can easily
become a snare to you. You may
need to start the process of saying “no” to pleasing people and instead…
2. Say “yes” to pleasing God.
Now Jesus said many things that still have the
best minds of our day scratching their heads. And one statement is recorded in John’s Gospel.
(John
5:30) “By myself I can do nothing;
I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please
myself but him who sent me.”
What did He mean? I am certain this statement and it’s context of Kingdom
principals has more to unpack than what I noticed. Yet what we see on the surface is how to live our lives
through the Jesus. In essence
Jesus is setting the example on where we get our personal satisfaction. If He, being God, does not do things to
please Himself, but instead to please Him who sent Him (I love that!) then we
also should live only to please God, who has not only saved us, but also sent
us!
Fear has a funny way of messing that up. Many people that conquer their fears,
whatever they might be, are people that find God as their focus. They are living for an audience for One
and instead of being distracted by the “what if’s” of life. Pleasing God instead keeps you locked
into the “what will be’s.” Do this
and the fears of life will start to melt away!
Do you please
people?
What ways do you recognize
that pleasing people is natural in your life?
What is keeping you from
pleasing God?
How has your fears
played a part in this?
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