Pleasing God

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. – Hebrew 11:6

All entrepreneurs understand the importance of building and maintaining satisfied customers as a critical component to building a successful business.  As important as it is to please our customers, the greatest aim of the Biblical Entrepreneur should be to please God, not the customer.  You can please the customer and not please God.  If you please God you will most likely also please the customer, and even if you do not, God will work it together for your good.  We all aspire to please God but at times we struggle to understand how to please Him.  We ask ourselves questions such as: is it possible to please God?  Do I have to follow all Ten Commandments to please Him?  How can an imperfect creation please Perfection?  Pleasing God seems like an impossible task so many of us give up or just “shoot in the dark” and hope we make it.  There is no simple formula or recipe to pleasing God but it is also not a mystery.

Hebrew 11:6 teaches us that “…without faith it is impossible to please Him”.   In Matthew 25: 14 – 31 there are three servants who  each receive talents from their master; two please the master and one does not.  We usually believe that the one servant does not please his master because he does not steward his talent profitably.  The servant’s lack of profitability leads to the master’s disappointment but is not the reason why the master is not pleased with him.  I believe he could have pleased the master even if he had lost the talent.  The reason why this servant does not please his master is because he lacks faith.  Due to his lack of faith, he does not exercise any effort to put His talent to use.  His lack of faith creates room for fear, which drives him to take the path of least resistance and hide his talent.  His lack of faith demonstrates distrust for his master who, in giving him the talent, ensures that he has the ability to use it profitably.  His inaction demonstrates that he does not believe he has the ability his master thinks he has.  Everything the servant does is based on his flesh and Romans 8:8 states that “those that are in the flesh cannot please God”.

Faith is an unconditional trust in something or someone that leads us to act against conventional wisdom or defy logic.  Faith is action based on our convictions.   Faith moves us, contrary to our physical senses, into the realm of the supernatural which is contrary to the flesh.  Without it, it is impossible to please God.  Our faith must be based on the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  God is spirit and without faith we cannot be in tune with His will.  The servant who does not please God is not in tune with God’s will since he lacks faith.  His lack of faith causes him to “play it safe” and preserve what he has in an attempt to protect himself against possible loss or danger.  Had the servant exercised faith, he would have risked what he had with the knowledge that if he loses it, it will take him into a path of discovery and greater intimacy with his master.

Are your current actions pleasing to God?  Have you been operating out of faith or fear?  Are you being led by the Spirit or by the flesh?   Take a leap of faith into a journey of discovery and intimacy so you may please your Master, for “without faith it is impossible to please Him.”