Pleasing people, or God? By Lou Beard.

when you feel there’s something God really wants you to do, there’s no point in hoping he’ll change his mind, or give you an easier option. God knows best, and he wants what’s best for each of us.

When I was a child, I knew of God. My favourite time of the school day was assembly, when we got to sing hymns and hear about Jesus.

I knew of God as the creator, and I knew that Jesus was his son, but I didn’t understand what Jesus had done for me, for all of us. I knew that Jesus died on the cross, and rose again, but I didn’t understand that it was my sin that put him there.

In my teenage years, I confess I didn’t give God much thought. I didn’t really have any contact with any Christians at the time.

I’ve come to understand how God sorts out all the details, some big, and some small, to get us where we need to be, in order to find him. Yes, he does his bit, but we have to do ours too. We have to listen to what he is leading us to do, and we have to do it.

I didn’t want to leave the house I’d grown up in, but when we did have to move, I knew that I had to live in the houses which were being built near to the chapel where I’d been going to choir practice for some years and had met some very special friends. After moving house it was over a year before I started going to chapel, and hearing God’s word spoken about. Through singing with the choir I’d been at several Easter, Christmas, and Harvest services. I wanted to know more about this God who apparently loved me. Why did I wait so long before going? Well, I knew that once I started, I would be fully committed. Also, I knew that some people may not understand why I wanted to go. I confess that for the first few months, I allowed others to think I was going to sing with the choir. I didn’t tell them that choir only sang at special services!

More years went by, and I started thinking a lot more about how God wants me to live. It was hard to put into practice though.

All my life, I’d wanted a sister. Someone to share things with, someone who I could be there for, and who could be there for me.

I know that it was The Lord who brought Alex into my life. I’m not someone who finds it easy to get to know new people. So it had to be God’s hand that led Alex and me to start messaging one another, and within only a couple of months, she came to stay at my house. Within no time at all, I had my sister. And not just a sister who liked similar things, but a sister who could answer my questions, and show me by example how to become closer to God. She introduced me to Christian music, I’d only thought there were hymns, and also Christian fiction books. Through those, I could really see how people found their way to walking with Jesus. How he’s with us in all we do.

Of course, the best way to find our own personal relationship with the Lord, is to read the Bible. And it was in doing this, that I knew his will for me was to be baptised.

So, I went round and round with that thought for a long time, before saying that’s what I wanted to do. You see, I had been Christened as a baby. This meant that according to some people’s beliefs, I shouldn’t be baptised as an adult. I felt that the promises that had been made on my behalf had not been kept, so I wanted to personally proclaim Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I felt that this was what God wanted from me, so I had to decide whether to please other people, or God.

As I said, when there’s something we know God wants us to do, it’s best to do it. He doesn’t change his mind, he doesn’t let us down, he loves us and he wants us to walk with him. We all mess stuff up in our lives, I know I have, but Jesus died to take away our sin, my sin. And I want to recognise that. I want to give my life to Jesus, and be led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is not some historical character we read about, he’s with us in all we do. He’s just as relevant today as he was all those years ago, and he knows each of us as individuals, and he still loves us! I could give countless examples of how God has worked in my life, from helping me to find people who can help me when I’m shopping, to some of the bigger things I mentioned earlier, but it would take too long to mention them all. My life has been so different since I invited Jesus into it. I’m not saying everything goes the way I want it to, because it certainly doesn’t, but Jesus is there alongside me, no matter what is happening.