The other day while shopping with my wife, I asked her what exactly we were looking to buy. She responded by saying, “I will know it when I see it.” I think that is a true statement for everyone. We know what we like when we see it. I seem to always like the most expensive clothing, food, and cars without ever looking at the price tag. However, as easy as it is to know what pleases you, it can be a little harder to figure out what pleases God.

Paul said in Ephesians 5:10, to “Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.” Pleasing God does not happen automatically. It often requires saying no to our own desires, saying no to the desires of people around us, and saying yes to sacrifice. Pleasing God will not happen accidentally. It will be the result of a determined intentional decision to follow His voice and ignore many conflicting voices in our heart. The fact that Paul says to “carefully determine” lets us know that this choice to please God will takes some thought on our part.
How can we please the Lord?

Pleasing the Lord always takes faith. The Word plainly says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Pleasing God always takes faith because He is always calling us out of our comfort and into His plan. He often only shows us His plan one step at a time so we must express faith one step at a time.

Pleasing the Lord always takes obedience. Pleasing God is not about knowing the right thing to do, it is about doing the right thing. Jesus talked about the difference in hearing the word and doing the word. Jesus reminded people that to know the word without doing the word is like building your house on a foundation of sand.

Pleasing the Lord takes time. Pleasing God may not always seem expedient at the time. You may not see the benefit for your life, but you have to trust him that His plan is always better than your plan. Just because you don’t know how something is going to work out does not mean that God cannot work beyond what you see.

Today’s Challenge: Carefully consider what pleases God and then choose to take the action that brings joy to Him.