Pleasing God or Man?

Often when I write these blogs, I think about the fact that what I am sharing is kind of personal and that people will think and brand me a Jesus fanatic.  But, in the end, what it boils down to is will I fear what man thinks of me, or will I obey God and write and post as He directs me.  I guess that brings up the question of how you overcome the fear of man and what others think of you.       

Prov 29:25 NKJV -

The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe (set on high).

I was listening to someone the other day as he was asked how to overcome the fear of man.  In responding to the question, he told this story:  

He heard of scientists who saw a small black spot as they looked into the night sky.  They wanted to look into this some more and got a stronger telescope that is used at a planetarium to look at the stars and the constellations.  Upon further investigation, they saw that the small black spot opened up into three more galaxies that no one even knew existed.  He was reminded that God, who created all of this, can measure our planet and all the galaxies and constellations out there, with the palm of His hand.  

This brings it all into the right perspective.  When man, who can brand and label you, are no longer alive and this planet of ours is folded up like an old worn tablecloth, then God will still be able to measure the galaxies with the palm of His hand.  To me, it remains a no-brainer - I will choose to be obedient to Him.  Afterall, He is the only One who can claim that “He is and was and is to come”.

Is 40: NKJV -

12  Who has measured the waters (of the world) in the hollow of His hand,

Measured heaven with a span (width of His hand)

And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?

Weighed the mountains in scales

And the hills in a balance?

22  It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

25  “To whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.

28  Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.

Reading all this about who our God is can make one feel slightly unworthy as far as human perfection and the ability to stand before God.  I heard this story a few days ago and I thought this one was too good not to share.  

It was told of this young man who was studying to become a doctor.  But he had to have a recommendation from a medical specialist so he could continue with his studies.  As luck would have it, his best friend’s dad was such a specialist.  Problem was that he had never met the man.  His friend’s dad said that he would be willing to get to know the young man a bit better and invited him for a game of golf.  What he didn’t know was that the young man was famous for his inability to play golf.  Long story short, they ended up on the golf course and it went as you might imagine - really bad for the young man.  He missed most holes and lost all of his golf balls in the process.  At the very end, he still got a glowing review from the specialist.  Why?  Because the young man’s performance on the golf course wasn’t important to the specialist.  What was important was the friendship he had with his son.  Sound familiar?  To God, we don’t have to impress Him with our performance.  He is only interested in the fact that we know and love His Son.

When God looks at us, He doesn’t see us in our humanity and imperfections and lack of performance.  He sees us in Jesus’ perfection, He sees that we were made complete in Him.

Col 2 NKJV - 

9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Getting back to whom we should please.  As I was thinking about this, the Lord reminded me that we all have had instances where people promised that they would help us with things, or they would put us in contact with others who could assist.  Looking at Jesus, He not only promised to help humanity, but He actually did.  And yes, it cost Him His life.  Truth be told, even if you or I were the only person alive on the face of this earth, who needed to be saved and rescued, He would have done it for the one.  

Looking at His life here on earth, He came as me, to live His life as me, so He could die as me - in my place.  He knows what it is to be human.  He was conceived out of wedlock which probably caused a great deal of shame and was born in a humble stable.  They had to flee the evil ruler who was out to kill him.  I am sure as He grew up, He probably realized that all those baby boys who were killed, died because of Him - talk about survivor's guilt.  Sometime during His growing up years, He must have come to know who He was and how His life would turn out.  That was His assignment from God - what He was called to do.  I wonder if deep inside He was gripped with fear of what was to come.  And then on the cross, He took our sin, our sicknesses, our shame by becoming it all for us and in our place.  He was obedient to pleasing His Father, even unto death.  

So today if you are called to something that feels too big and impossible to handle, if it feels like you might face ridicule or shame for your obedience, remember Jesus and His perfect obedience to the Father.  He not only knows what it feels like, but because of that He was able to save humanity and say, "It is Finished".  This should give all of us the courage to continue on until the day we hear "Well Done!"

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