1 Corinthians 5:9 says, “So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.”
The past week I have been having to remind myself of this truth.
It is my goal, it is my desire and it is my purpose to please God.
Not myself.
I have been in China for a month now. I came to China out of desire and out of purpose; to please God. And though I was utterly confused, I was also completely confirmed. I did not know why, but I knew God was calling me to come. And since being here I have had to believe that if we are seeking the things God puts before us, he will be glorified. Even if we do not always see how. So God is being praised in China.
Sometimes we do not see how God is working and is being glorified, especially on short-term trips. Since being here, I have been working at an International School. I have been teaching 1st grade part time, filling in when teachers are sick, teaching PE, teaching Art, taking kids for recess so other teachers can have more planning time and taking students out for extra reading among a few other things. For me it is easy to think I am just bouncing around, not super important. BUT for the teachers who have been at the school their view is completely different. They see me as someone sent by God at the perfect time, because there were so many loose things which needed to be covered for this short period of time. And they realize I am the one that has showed up to do it.
It is really humbling for me to hear them praising God for sending me here. I remember when I first began discerning God calling me to China, I was asking ‘why me? what do I have to bring?’. I was reminded to Isaiah. God was telling me, “Chaney, I am calling you, because you are willing.”. It was that simple. And because I was willing, God can use me. And he can use you, just be willing. Make it your goal to please him!
I have had to remind myself that it is not about me finding my ‘goals’ or my ‘passions’ or my ‘calling’. It is about me pleasing HIM. When I take my focus off of that, I can feel defeated and insignificant. I am in a season of asking God those very specific questions: ‘what does living abroad look like for me?’, ‘what my are passions?’, ‘what are my giftings?’. But when my goal becomes trying to figure those answers out, I miss the mark. And it is through pleasing the Lord that I find pleasure in the Lord. And when I find pleasure in the Lord; he allows me to please him by living out of passion, desire and calling!
I pray that you think about how you are pleasing the Lord with your life and how you can shift to please him even more. And trust him to abundantly care for you when you delight in him!
