Hey guys! Arlie here, taking over ALDS for the evening and sharing my heart about what it truly means to please God.

I recently taught some 4 year olds about pleasing God. In the Bible, Daniel pleased God by worshiping only Him. Daniel would not compromise his love for God. He knew what was right, and he did it. I think my students understood that pleasing God is simple. I think that I understand it is simple, but it is not easy.

Daniel stood firm in his faith knowing that he could be killed for it. I struggle to stand firm when I fail to believe that God is completely in and around every aspect of my life. When my job becomes stressful or my children aren’t obeying I quickly jump to my own bag of tricks. These are the techniques and manipulations that I rely on to get what I want. However, when I take God out of the situation and put in my own ability to solve the problem, I can no longer please Him, because I am choosing to please me.

God cares about everything. He wants me to get a good parking space at Walmart. He wants me to pray for my students. He wants me to openly talk about my commitment to Him at work and He wants me to let His light shine, even when I get a speeding ticket. He is in everything and He cares deeply about what I am doing.

Pleasing God means I am acknowledging His presence in my life 24/7.  I wake up to honor Him, I work to honor Him, I parent to honor Him; I please God when I put Him at the top of my list. Every situation that falls in my lap should be processed through a God filter that has me asking myself this question, “what is God’s opinion here?” When I don’t know, I take the opportunity to pick up the Word of God and find out.

I want to know God’s opinion about everything. When I know what is right, I can do what is right. If I don’t acknowledge God’s presence, then I won’t acknowledge His opinion. I will please God by putting Him at the top of every list, no matter how small it may seem.

–Arlie

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