Boy, did this year fly by! It seems like just yesterday when I was checking into The Happiest Place On Earth…and no, I’m not talking about Disneyland, but the best dorm EVER: Hotchkiss! Most of the exciting moments that I experienced happened in Hotchkiss. From winning both the girls and guys Master’s Cups, to late night/early morning study parties in the lounge, to building relationships that will last a lifetime, to growing deeper in my walk with the Lord, Master’s has exceeded my expectations about what I thought college would be like. I am so privileged and blessed to be able to go to a school where I am surrounded by other believers.
This year, God opened my eyes to so many things in my life that needed work. In my Biblical Counseling class we did a Personal Improvement Project. We picked what we thought was the biggest sin issue in our lives and we dissected and worked on it over the course of the entire semester. Mine was people pleasing. I realized that a lot of the time I am interested in what others think about who I am, what I do and how I look, rather than pleasing God. It is so selfish to be concerned about what others think when we look at what Jesus did on the cross for us. He was unashamed. He bled and died for us, and I’m here worried about what people are going to think of me if I share the Gospel with them. Not ok! Our focus needs to be on Christ 24/7 and not about what other people think about us. It became clear to me that trying to impress people did absolutely nothing for me. All it did was make me an anxious, worrisome wreck, and that’s not what God wants.
“The people-pleaser is discontented with his status in life. He longs to have more authority, greater honor, more influence, and more wealth. Rather than being thankful for what has been given to him and for Gods wise distribution of blessings to all men for his purposes, the approval-seeking idolater covets the honor-producing blessings that God has given to others, as though all of God’s purposes revolved around bestowing honor on himself.” – Pleasing People by Lou Priolo
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you do receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? – 1 Corinthians 4:7
It is bad enough for a person to think he is responsible for the blessings in life. It is way worse to use those blessings to endorse one’s own glory and reputation rather than the glory and reputation of the One who is truly responsible for them.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. – James 1:17
With contentment also comes trusting the Lord. I have learned that it is so much better to trust the Lord with the big and little things of life rather than worry about them myself. Obviously it’s not easy, because as fallen human beings we want to control things ourselves. But God is the Sustainer of our lives and He knows our needs and will provide them for us in His perfect timing, which teaches us patience, because often times our timing isn’t the same as God’s. But God knows us better than we do, so we need to trust His will for our lives.
