Today is week three of the Chosen and Approved: Untangling Our Identities from People and Perfection series. Today Emily takes a look at the story of David to help us understand our people-pleasing tendencies. She digs into David’s affair with Bathsheba and the plot against Uriah and then questions how God chose a man such as David for such an important role in our story of faith. To learn more about David, you can read 2 Samuel 11.
She begins by saying…
My modern conservative Christian mind has trouble with David and all of his wives. Then, I read about his affair with Bathsheba and the plot against Uriah, and I don’t understand how God could’ve chosen this man for such an important role. Yet the Bible says David was a man after God’s heart, so despite his flaws, David was right with his God.
With my God.
And I’d be wise to learn from his example.
I shake my head in agreement as I read these words and wonder anew how God chooses broken and messy people to do the important work of building His kingdom. But that’s not all. There is a sense of people-pleasing that courses strongly through my veins. There are times I wear blinders and my focus is limited only to pleasing others rather than pleasing God. If you continue to read David’s story and Emily’s, you will discover that God chose David because his focus was on pleasing Him above others.
[Tweet “I want to be a woman after God’s heart and not waste my life chasing anything less. Emily Conrad”]
As I read these final words from Emily, God speaks a reminder of how it looks to choose Him first. As we make mistakes we look to God for grace, forgiveness and how to please Him above all others.
David’s story is challenging for me because it convicts my perfectionist, people-pleasing ways. I want to be a woman after God’s heart. I don’t want to waste my life chasing anything less, and David’s story shows me quite clearly some areas where I have a tendency to substitute people-pleasing for God-pleasing.
Her story mirrors my own in many ways, but through the grace of God we learn how to turn to Him in our messy choices and become God-pleasers. Click here to read Emily’s entire post.
To catch up on the whole series from Jeanne, Emily and I, click here!
Blessings of grace along the way!
Isn’t it wonderful? God uses us, with all our imperfections and flaws. I too fall into that people pleasing trap. It’s a daily discipline to keep our eyes turned toward our God and focus on what pleases Him, but what an awesome place to be:) It brings such freedom! Always a welcome reminder, Mary. Blessings!
Wow, what a message: to be a woman after God’s heart rather than falling into the trap of people pleasing. I want to run after that too.
It is a powerful message isn’t it? I love how Emily chose to use David to teach us how even the most broken person can choose to chase after God first over and above pleasing others. Thank you for stopping by Betsy!
It has always awed me that God calls David a man after His own heart. It gives such great hope to all of us, doesn’t it? How true it is that “through the grace of God we learn how to turn to Him in our messy choices and become God-pleasers.” Grace alone. I am loving this series by you three. Blessings and hugs to you, Mary!
Thank you for joining us for this series Trudy! Knowing a bit of your own story, I pray these words are encouraging and life-giving for you. You could add so much to what is being said.
God is grace and having God in my life comes with the benefit of his amazing grace. Blessings and hugs to you too!
“God chooses broken and messy people to do the important work of building His kingdom.” This is such an amazing truth, isn’t it? His mercy and grace are astounding, and it’s tragic when we turn away from it by people-pleasing, something I have to be diligent about in my life. Thanks for this intro, Mary!
Yes He does! God’s truth is always amazing and the fact that David was chosen by God shows us how God believes we each have a unique role and gifts to share to further His kingdom. It is so easy to fall into the pattern of pleasing others first. Those people are physically present and I believe there is something to be said about giving into their demands before honoring God.
I am thrilled to be on this journey with you and Jeanne.The whole series has been such a blessing and has given me a chance to pause and reflect what this means in my own life. Blessings Emily!
Yes, anything decent that we’ve done, any sin we’ve happened to avoid is simply because of His powerful grace.
I’m so thankful that God’s introduced us to all kinds of ‘characters’ along the way … we know we’re not alone, we know that redemption is possible.
God’s grace is unfathomable many times but His gift is always a blessing. Emily did a beautiful job of writing about people pleasing and the lessons she gleaned from David’s life were stellar. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your encouragement.
Like you, Mary, I want to turn away from the messy — to emphasize the heroic battle against Goliath and David’s psalm singing days. By looking squarely at the truth — as bravely presented in the Word — I gain courage for dealing with my own failure before God.
Thank you for being here and restating what I was trying to convey. We will find our courage and truth in God’s Word always. I pray we all can turn away from our messy choices and look to pleasing God first in all we do. Love having you here!