Am I Pleasing God?

Sometimes I wonder if I’m pleasing God.

Sometimes I wonder what He’s asking of me…

Because there is a time for everything under heaven.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil–this is the gift of God.

So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him… So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?”

–Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

As I read this verse, I’m starting to hear something, Lord.

Find satisfaction in toil. Enjoy my work.

I read on…

Meaningless, meaningless, meaningless. Riches are meaningless. Advancement is meaningless.

[Sigh of relief] I learned that lesson a year or so ago when I finally handed over my writing career to the Lord. But, wait. Maybe there’s other areas of my life that I need to examine in this area. [Deep breath as I dive back in…]

Stand in awe of God.

[Pause]

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few…

How many times have I sat before the Lord, growing impatient when I couldn’t hear His voice in the first five minutes? Too many times to count. Or how many times have I come with my problems and concerns, quick with my mouth, hasty in my heart, with too many words? Often.

“As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the [temple] messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?

Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7)

Stand in awe of God and let my words be few.

Maybe that’s the next step God is calling me to.

Maybe that’s all He’s asking of me…

How about you? What is God asking of you? Do you feel like you are pleasing Him? What have you learned in your journey?

4 Responses to Am I Pleasing God?
  1. Mary
    August 8, 2010 | 8:21 pm

    Thanks for the opportunity to slow down and think about what God is showing us.

    I’m still ruminating on what I absorbed at She Speaks last week. The two things that repeated for me and wove together over the course of the weekend were from Habakkuk 3:19 “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to go on the heights.”

    The other part of it though, is like the name of the main character in the book Hinds Feet on High Places once again I’ve become “Much Afraid,” and am content living on the flatlands rather than taking the risks involved in following Him to the “heights.” Need to work on that…

  2. Leah
    August 8, 2010 | 9:34 pm

    Sometimes it is hard to just be quiet and still and wait on God. :/

  3. Gina
    August 23, 2010 | 9:40 am

    Thanks for commenting, ladies. I’m training myself to wake up early again before everyone else to spend real quiet time reading when it’s quiet. I did great last week, but this morning I forgot to set my alarm and woke up late. Guess my body was catching up on lost sleep. Good news is that most kids are gone for school already and one is still sleeping so that means it’s still quiet! Time to be still and listen!

  4. Abner
    April 25, 2011 | 1:04 am

    It’s just too hard! I don’t know how to please God. Sometimes I feel like I am for about a week, but after that I don’t have the power to keep doing what I do for Him and fall into temptation over and over. It has happened since high school and i’m already 28 yrs old. I feel like giving up. Like I’ll never please God.