God Can’t Please Everybody

“God can’t please everybody.” This stated by one of my pastors who recently gave a sermon. Somehow that thought stuck with me this week.

Think about it:

One man prays that it won’t rain on his parade.
Another man (a farmer) prays for rain to quench his wilting crops.

A boy prays that she will say yes when he asks her out.
The girl is praying that the boy will just go away and jump in the lake.

A salesman prays that a business deal will go through.
Another salesman prays that it won’t.

A college graduate is praying to land his first job.
Another college graduate is praying for the same job.

A son is praying that his father will be healed.
The father is praying that God would finally take him home.

The scenarios could go on and on. It’s mind boggling to think about how God tries to balance all these requests that compete with one another. And even more importantly—how do all those requests fit into His plan? Does His plan always play into our sometimes-small, sometimes-large decisions, dreams, or wishes?

I could easily swim into some deep theological waters, but let’s stick to one point for now. I have learned one thing from my pastor’s original statement. If God can’t possibly please everybody, what makes me think that I can? After all, my circle of influence is very small. I can only influence a few people and situations in my life. And there are so many things I can’t control. I really should shoot for influencing only a handful of people in my life, and ultimately there’s only One I Who I need to please.

So let’s take stock of our lives. Who are we trying to please?

Let’s ask God to search our hearts and show us how we can please Him more and more.

God bless!