So these past couple of weeks God has really been pressing on me on an area of my life that I know he wants to fix and work on-and that is my problem with wanting to please people-constantly.
Right now God is simply pointing out to me all of the places that I am looking towards the approval of man, as opposed to His.
Basically that's like, every moment of my life.
Here's a fine example:
Roughly two weeks ago I had my first round of region auditions for choir. Basically it was an audition TO audition for region. So what happens is you learn a few songs and the region chair picks cuts from some of the songs and you sing it for judges-you're singing behind a curtain so they can't see you, and they rank you. In order to advance to the next round, you have to place well enough up against your competition.
So for this first round I was at all I had to do was be in the top 23 in my room (there were around sixty people in the room total-they just took 23). I went in and auditioned, came home and waited for the results to be posted later on that night.
I got ranked 16th out of 23. So I advanced! Good, right?
Ya'll I cried for like an hour. And I might as well be completely honest.I didn't cry because I knew I could have done better MYSELF. I cried because I was worried about what all my choir friends would think about how I did. I Know it sounds petty but that's really the extent of how much I cared about what my friends thought of how I performed, as opposed to me caring about singing to the very One who gave me the gift of my voice in the first place.
That was all rooted in a need for me to try and find approval in other people.
"This is what the Lord says,
Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength,
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives."-Jeremiah 17:5-6
God is not beating around the bush in that passage there. If you just look at the words He is using-"cursed, wastelands, salt land"- God really means business. But He has so much truth in those two verses-obviously..because He's GOD! But think about it: When I hear things like "parched places of the desert" and "He will be like a bush in the wastelands" I don't think of a dude who's satisfied. I don't think of someone whose thirst is quenched. I think of someone who is UN-satisfied. Which is so true. It's like as humans we are always looking for the person that will cater the most to our constant need of being loved or approved of, when in reality no human will ever love us perfectly! People are going to fail us whether they mean to or not. So when one person (or even thing) fails us, what do we do? We jump to the next person that could possibly, just maybe, offer us fulfillment. And it's awful because that cycle never stops-we will continue to search until we are satisfied.
That's what God is telling us in that passage up there that I posted! We will not find rest if we are constantly searching for approval from men-because they will never satisfy. But God will.
God then says,
"BUT blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted b the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes,
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought,
and never fails to bear fruit." -Jeremiah 17:7-8
There's God's beautiful promise right there. He promises us that if we run to Him we will never be thirsty. Why? Because God loves us unconditionally. Don't believe me? Check out the cross. Better yet, check out the empty grave. Because He didn't conquer death for you to run to things that will not ever satisfy! I feel like God looks upon me sometimes with complete bewilderment because how can I think that any broken human's opinion could EVER match up to the one who gave his life to me? I feel so much conviction reading this chapter in Jeremiah because God is so clear in his love for us. He promises us that should we look to Him and Him alone we shall NOT be shaken. That doesn't mean that hard times will never come, but it does mean we have a rock immovable that we can cling to-one that will not fail.
One more verse I want to bring up:
"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." -Galatians 1:10
All over Romans Paul talks about being a slave to righteousness. And being a slave to righteousness is so cool-because it means we are following the Lord, intent upon becoming more like Him.
But what is this verse in galatians saying? While we are still trying to please men, we are allowing us to be bound in chains to something that is not the gospel. If we constantly worry about pleasing others and winning the approval of those around us, our life's purpose ceases to become to pursue the Lord. Instead of becoming a slave to righteousness, we become a slave to others opinions. And I believe that breaks the heart of the Lord. Because we already HAVE his approval. So why are we searching? We were approved the day that Jesus took his final breath.
