Grace Upon Grace With Sophie HudsonSample

DAY 5

For the bulk of my adult life, I would have described myself as a Certified People Pleaser. About six or seven years ago, though, the temptation to keep everybody happy started to lose its grip on me. There are a bunch of reasons why, but the biggest was that I started to realize I was being bossed around by what the Bible calls “fear of man.” I didn’t want anyone to be unhappy with me, so I would say whatever I needed to say to keep the (fake) peace - which meant I wasn’t always telling the truth.

One passage in Scripture has been enormously encouraging to me as I have tried to shake loose of my people-pleasing tendencies. In Luke 1, Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were at their son’s circumcision with friends and family. Scripture tells us that the neighbors and relatives wanted to name the child Zechariah, after his father, but Elizabeth stood firm: “No. He will be called John.” After Elizabeth wouldn’t give in (and please keep in mind these people loved our buddies E and Z), they questioned her answer by petitioning Zechariah. Zechariah, who was mute at the time, also stood firm by writing his answer: “His name is John.”

Right after Elizabeth and Zechariah stood their ground, three things happened:

1. Zechariah could speak again

2. He began praising God, and

3. People talked about baby John all throughout the hill country of Judea.

Elizabeth and Zechariah didn’t try to explain, they didn’t go out of their way to make sure everyone understood their decision, and their obedience ultimately gave credibility to John’s calling (Luke 1:66).

What a reminder that when the Lord gives us clear instruction, our job is to stand in that spot. We don’t have to over-explain, we don’t have to make sure everybody is okay with what we’re doing, and we don’t have to work for our certification in people-pleasing. Because when we know how the Lord has called us and directed us, we get to stand there. Confidently.

And the fear of man has nothing on that.