God’s Pleasure Rev. 4: 11 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Following God’s lead, it should be our pleasure to please him.  We do that when we live by faith [Heb 11:5-6], rather than in the flesh [Rom 8:8], and when we please others rather than ourselves [Rom 15:2-3].  That’s how Jesus lived when he did always those things that pleased his Father [Jn 8:29].  But let’s consider some other ways to please the Lord.

When employees of Chik-Fil-A wait on customers they say, “My pleasure.”  That’s a whole lot better than saying, “No problem.”  You get the idea that they derive pleasure from serving you.  When we think about our relationship with the Lord, we often think about “our” pleasure.  But consider God’s pleasure in our relationship with him.  According to Rev 4:11, we were created for his pleasure.  It is evident that he is pleased by some of the things he does for us.  For instance,

Our salvation is God’s pleasure – Is 53:10-11 – it had to be hard for God to look upon the death of his Son. Nevertheless, he was pleased.  And you know that he is pleased when we receive his Son and eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ.  “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth,” [Lk 15:10].

Our happiness is God’s pleasure – Prov 16:20 – “whoso trusteth in the Lord happy is he.” The Lord obviously wants us to trust him, but he also wants us to be happy as a result of trusting him.  Our happiness is a testimony to our trust in him.  We can have joy in the midst of affliction, difficult circumstances and trials because we trust him, and he is pleased.

Our ordered steps are God’s pleasure – Ps 37:23-24 – “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way.” The man delights in the Lord’s way and the Lord delights in the man’s way.  It is awesome that the Lord would concern himself with the minutest details of our lives and order them to our mutual pleasure.  It’s not like the Lord wants robots.  But rather, it’s his pleasure to direct our way and see us joyfully following.

Our abundant life is God’s pleasure – Jn 10:10 – Jesus Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.  When young people turn to the world they derive their pleasure from it.  But that’s a vain and temporary pleasure.  The eternal life of Christ is so full and rich and we are blessed with peace and love and joy and comfort and rest and so forth.  It is God’s pleasure to give us this life to enjoy.  That’s why Paul said, “Rejoice evermore.”

Conclusion: certainly the Lord is pleased when we live by faith and please others rather than ourselves.  But we must also realize that the Lord is pleased to do things for us.  He is pleased when we receive his salvation, when we are happy in his trust, when we recognize that he is ordering our steps while we willingly follow, and when we enjoy his abundant life.  We were created for his pleasure and it is his pleasure to do these things for us.  When you thank him for your salvation, your happiness, your ordered steps and your abundant life, you can imagine God saying,, “My pleasure.”