Pleasing God

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a reward er of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

It appears that pleasing the Lord is not as difficult as we would have it be. I often get the sense that he is just waiting for us to take him at his word with the faith of a child.

It may be counter intuitive for anyone who prays to think they are not praying to someone who exists, but I think sometimes we have to ask ourselves that very question.

Are we praying to someone who exists? If this were not an issue why would the verse call out this proposition so clearly? That those who come to the lord must first believe he is and that he rewards those who diligently seek him.

Part of me thinks it's insanely cruel to tell someone seeking assistance that they must do so diligently. From the time we are children, aren't we told Jesus is always with us and that he is just a breath away? Then why are we told he rewards those who diligently seek him? Is there something I have missed? I thought he was the God who always answered whenever and wherever I called.

But here is what I am beginning to understand. The Lord is a loving God, but he is also intensely jealous. He is ever willing to save, but not ever willing to abide with men.

I have never been a party to the belief that says you never know if you are saved or not. I know that I'm saved and that all that come to him, he won't cast out.

But what no one ever talks about is the need to separate oneself unto the Lord; to in fact know he exists and seek after him. You see the lord does answer prayer, but I'm convinced that the only people who fully receive the entire revelation of this are those that move beyond the "poor sinner, saved by grace" mentality and strive headlong into a pursuit of the Lord.

I must be clear, this has nothing to do with the love of the Lord. He loves us all, but really to please the Lord we have to go deeper than where we have been content to stand. We have to pursue him like he is real, not abstract.

Let's be honest with ourselves. How many times when we are praying are we planning for the failure of our prayers, running countless backup plans for when things don't work out. I know that I am not immune to this, but I am tired of it. I'm tired of the constant nagging doubts.

So here we have the issue. When we set our hearts to know him, to peruse him, and above all to trust him. We must diligently seek him. But what is diligence?

Diligence is walking through the trails, facing the doubts, losing loved ones, having prayers fall back at our feet, having prayers answered, facing doubt, feeling pain, and fighting every moment of every day to believe something we can't see or feel.

But here is where we come at the end of our journey. We arrive at "I am." Paul says those that come to the lord must first believe that he is, we really must know that he is the great "I am." and that he is completely other than we are. But that he has embraced us as his own.

I'm not saying any of this to promote doubt or discouragement. What I simply want to say is this: face the fears, ask the questions you have. HE WILL ANSWER, but you have to believe he will. Don't just keep doing things hoping they will work, tell him you are having trouble and ask him to teach you how to know he exists. Ask him to be real to you, he won't turn you away.

And this I do know, that once you know that you know "he is". You will have no doubts that cannot be overcome and no prayers to an open sky. Instead your faith will thrive and most importantly you will please him, which in the end is more satisfying than any other pursuit I can think of.