Think about your prayers lately.
What is your heart's cry to God during this season of your life? What is it that's consuming your prayer time? What do you pray about the most?
Right now, I've been crying out for wisdom more than I ever have. I'm becoming more and more aware of how much I need God's wisdom for every area of my life. Striving toward the dreams God has put in my heart for His glory has brought me to my knees in desperation for His wisdom to accomplish them.
Praying for wisdom is encouraged in the Word of God. God wants us to have His wisdom and He is more than willing to give it to us when we ask Him:
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you" (James 1:5, NIV).
I love this promise! When we pray for wisdom, we can be sure that God will answer our request.
And He has. God is showing me more and more Truth each day.
And as I've been praying for even more of His wisdom in my life right now, I've noticed that God has really been making me focus on the fear of the Lord.
That's because having wisdom and fearing God are directly connected.
Listen to this verse from Proverbs:
"Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10, NLT).
Whoa. I read that verse a couple days ago during my morning devotion time and everything just clicked. I've heard that verse hundreds of times. But as I've been seeking wisdom, it just stood out like it never had until now.
Fearing God is the FOUNDATION, or some translations say the BEGINNING, of wisdom.
In order for a person to be truly wise, they must FIRST fear the Lord.
This "fear" is a holy fear. It's doesn't mean to be afraid. It means that we are in absolute awe of God and who He is, and that we revere and honor Him above everyone and everything else in life. It's elevating God above all else and living out our lives with the awareness that He is watching everything we do and He has given us our lives for His glory.
Living this way in holy fear of the Lord leads to the destruction of every other fear. When you fear God with all of your heart, His perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). Fear of man, fear of the future, fear of anything - it cannot take root in your life because your heart is entirely focused on the reality of God - who He is and who He tells you that are you.
When you fear Him, His love unlocks the chains of fear that keep you afraid and timid. You see more and more of who He is and as you learn more about God, you discover more about yourself because we are made in His image.
I've come to this place in my life where what God thinks of me matters so much more than what anyone else thinks of me. God's thoughts toward me are everything. His love and His Truth mean more to me than anything.
I used to be a chronic people-pleaser, always somehow hoping to please everyone even though I knew that was impossible. From experience, I've learned that even if you are nice to everyone, there's still going to be someone that doesn't like you for whatever reason. There is no way I could ever please every person on this planet; that's silly and ridiculous and a huge waste of time and energy. God didn't create me so that I could spend my life trying to gain approval from others when He has already given me His approval. And wow - does His approval trump anyone's approval or disapproval.
Check out this verse from Proverbs chapter 29:
"Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe" (Proverbs 29:25, NIV).
Get this. Fearing other people is a SNARE. It's deception. It's a trap. It's imprisonment. Do that and you're guaranteed not to be free.
I feel like someone needs to hear this, so I'll say it: Worrying about what other people think of you, living for people's approval, defining yourself by what someone else says about you instead of what God has said about you - this is complete and utter folly and foolishness. If fearing God is the beginning of wisdom that leads to a life well lived for His glory, then we can assume that the opposite - fearing man is the beginning of foolishness.
What a sin it would be to live this life to please people! Such a tragedy. Such a waste.
Hear the words of the Apostle Paul:
"Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10, NIV).
God didn't create us to bow down to the approval of other people. That would be like building our lives on sand. He didn't make us in His image for us to try to be conformed into what people want us to be. God's desire is for us to be conformed into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
And Jesus wasn't at all concerned with what people thought of him; He was utterly consumed with the Father - what the Father said, what the Father wanted Him to do, what the Father's will was, who the Father is. Jesus gave us the perfect example of how to live life loving God and loving people. He loved people, but He did not live to please them.
Plain and simple: if we live to please others instead of pleasing God (and by the way, it's one or it's the other - you can't do both), we will miss so much of what God has for us because in order to be like Christ, we are going to have to be different. Holiness, righteousness, purity, humility, selflessness, kindness, unconditional love, uncompromising Truth - these things are not popular in today's world and culture.
I'm sharing all of this because it's been on my heart for some time. Whatever God teaches me, I want to share with others. There is freedom in Him when we honor Him above all else. He will give us the confidence, boldness, and grace to delight in His approval and to let that be our heart's greatest joy. There is no compliment that is greater and no criticism that can shake you when you know that God approves of you. That He looks down from heaven at your life and smiles to see you, His beloved child, living for Him with wholehearted abandon - becoming the person that He created you to become and doing the good works He has prepared for you.
May the revelation of God's love for you cast out all fear in your life for the glory, honor, and praise of Jesus Christ. This world doesn't need Christians who are pitiful and timid, afraid and doubting. This world needs Christians who are bold and courageous because we know who God is and who we are. And because we know how much God loves us. Oh, how He loves us!