It’s a question that some people never want to hear, much less answer.  The truth is that our ‘natural man’ wants to please other men (man and men, in this case, represent mankind which includes women!)  But if we are born-again of the Spirit of God, our spiritual man seeks to please God.

This is one of those ‘mysteries’ in the Bible that we need to understand going into the Revelation Days.  The natural man actually wars against the spiritual man, and guess what?  Sometimes it wins!  Just ask me on days that I have circumstances in my life that are overwhelming!  Better yet, ask those around me!

I’m just keeping it real here.  Sometimes I give my ‘natural man’ permission to act out, and it’s not pretty.  My halo actually slips a little.  I’ll bet yours never does that, does it? 😉

Back to serious!

Early in my walk with the Lord, I heard Him ask me one day, “do you want to please Me, or man?”  Believe me, when you’re asked that question, your first reaction is to quickly answer, “YOU, Lord!”  But, even as I had that thought, I heard Him say, “don’t answer too quickly, because your answer will become the destiny of your life!”

No pressure.  No pressure at all.

As I began to ponder the question, I came to understand that pleasing God may include some things I hadn’t previously thought.  What if pleasing God included never being married or never having children?  What if pleasing God included consecrating my entire life to His service alone?

From my childhood, all I ever wanted to be was a wife and a mother.

I recalled the Scripture:  “seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Then my answer became clear:  “Lord, if I never have anyone or anything in my life except YOU, YOU are more than enough.  I choose YOU, Lord!  If I am single my whole life, if I never have children, I choose YOU!  If I have to choose between pleasing man (myself included) or pleasing YOU, I choose YOU!  Today I choose the WHOLE desire of my heart is YOU, Lord!”

After that defining point in my life, I spent 10 years in inner-city ministry.  The Lord truly tested the resolve of my made-up mind and found that I had meant what I said and it came from my heart.

If any of you have read my book, “More Than I Could Ever Ask,” you know that I worked menial jobs and did what I had to do to continue in ministry as a single woman.  Oh, but then…..

God truly did give me the desires of my heart and more when Jim and I married and we subsequently were given 5 beautiful children to love and raise!

Back when God presented that perplexing question to me, I counted the cost and weighed my answer against the natural (wo)man’s desires and chose the spiritual (wo)man’s path.  It has been many years since then, and I was over 40 when God gave me the fullness of my heart’s desires.  Had I chosen my own path, I’m sure my life’s outcome would have been much different.

Today, I am teaching this principle to my own children, which God gave to me, and I pray that they too will seek to please God first.

Love,