Fear can grip us quickly; fear can lead to panic – panic can lead to chaos.. I was listening to the news a few weeks ago and I heard this, “stocks traded lower amid fears of the swine flu.” I thought to myself, "Really?"
Here’s what God says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 NLT
God has not given us a spirit of fear, and yet, so many people live paralyzed by fear, especially the fear of being rejected. Fearing rejection is a dangerous trap, in fact it can actually be sinful. We want to protect our reputation and our image. Our reputation becomes our idol and God has told us clearly to not have any idols in our life. Fearing rejection leads people to do all sorts of stupid things in order to please others.
So how do we overcome this trap? We learn to say "yes" to pleasing God and "no" to pleasing people. Our desire is to live for God and His approval above the approval of man.
To wrap my mind around this truth, it's helpful for me to embrace this truth, “I will be rejected by people.” People are fickle and there is no way I can please everyone. I will be rejected by people, so will you if you are a follower of Christ. If you are truly a Christian there will be people that reject you and what you are living for.
Every single day you will have an opportunity to cave in and live for the approval of people, or you will have the opportunity to surrender your heart at that moment to God.
What would it look like if we said “no” to pleasing people and “yes” to pleasing God? What kind of pain could you have avoided in your life? What would our high schools look like if students didn’t have the pressure to seek approval from their friends and cave into drugs, alcohol, and sex? How free would you feel if there wasn’t the constant pressure to perform for others? What if we lived to please an audience of One?
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