by Ray Wallace
(July 2023)
It was a normal day, clear and dry, warm and wonderful. I was driving my old but still
serviceable Pontiac Grand Prix. It was sort of an eyesore and heavier than a ton of bricks. The
old “J” model was still a great sports car, but a terrible gas hog.
The red light turned green, the equally old Cadillac directly in front of me took off quickly and
so did I. Without warning (I still don’t remember seeing brake lights), the driver slammed on his
brakes and I slammed into the back of the old Caddy. We were both on gravel! Turns out
someone was running the other red light and the Caddy barely avoided being hit broadside. He
got out of the Caddy. I was just a bit slower exiting the Grand Prix, when I quickly sized up the
situation. He was a large, muscular man who was a dead ringer for Mike Tyson! Yes, I was a bit
intimidated. I’m 6’3” and weigh 215, but this guy was huge! Not fat… muscular!
I quickly said in the friendliest voice I could muster (probably out of fear), “Hello, I’m Ray
Wallace. He frowned and said very angrily, “My name’s Mike!” My heart sank. Since I doubted
a rich Mike Tyson would be driving a beater, I figured it wasn’t the boxer, so I just said, “I’m so
sorry, I’ll be glad to pay for this,” hoping he wouldn’t beat to a pulp. We both agreed on what
panel was damaged, and I guessed it might be a cheap part at the wrecking yard. Of course, he
took it to Rickenbaugh Cadillac in downtown Denver for the highest estimate and it was twice
what I expected (but that’s not the story here).
The story is that I didn’t recognize the challenge right in front of me. I didn’t realize until too late
that the Caddy was stopping! Was I too close? Probably. Did he actually have functioning brake
lights? Maybe, maybe not. But all things considered, I did not recognize the challenge in front of
me until it was too late.
Most humans struggle with unrecognized challenges and many of them are quite dangerous,
threatening life, limb, and often eternity. I’ve become convinced that many if not most of
our unrecognized challenges come from the very simple desire to please self rather than please
God.
God, Himself, teaches us through Paul’s pen what the goal should be, “Therefore we also have as
our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him,” (II Corinthians 5:9). It doesn’t
take a lot of logic to connect love to obedience if we simply connect this passage to John 14:15,
wherein Jesus teaches to our hearts and heads together, “If you love me you will keep my
commandments.” Paul loved Jesus. Paul understood the connection of love to obedience, so he
made the right choice.
But our problem is often not what we see, but what we don’t see—the brake lights of daily
living… so we crash! Satan never wants you to see the brake lights of spiritual danger. One of
his best moves is to blind you with the unrecognized reality of simply putting what you want
ahead of what God wants!
Here’s how it works: I know what I want. Consciously or subconsciously, I convince myself that
what I want is what God wants for me. Example: You want people to see that God blesses you so
that you can have a more effective witness (so far, so good). But then you allow yourself to begin
to believe that a new car might be a great way to show people that God is blessing you. It all
seems so very logical. Your evangelism will be aided as you joyfully tell people how God has
blessed you with a new ride!
It’s an age-old problem, trying to humanly connect blessings (or curses) with daily living. Job’s
friends thought they had it so right until God corrected them in Job 42:7-9. There are a plethora
of examples, but you get the point. We make terrible mistakes when we subconsciously convince
our conscious selves that what we want is what God wants for us. I literally don’t care what you
drive (I hope every reader has a late-model auto for reliable transportation), just don’t use
spiritual reasoning for personal pleasure.
During the restoration of God’s people to Jerusalem (after 70 years of captivity in Babylon) they
had some deeply rooted social problems. Mainly they lacked enough to be fully supplied. God
rather clearly explained the problem in Haggai 1:4-6.
‘Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies
desolate? Now, therefore,’ thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Consider your ways! You have
sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there
is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who
earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes’ (The last one here could be describing
inflation!)
Sometimes it’s just so easy to convince ourselves that what we want is, somehow, what God
wants for us. The root of the problem virtually always is the unrecognized challenge of pleasing
self rather than pleasing God. The answer is always loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind,
and strength (Mark 12:30) and loving Jesus enough to keep His commandments (John 14;15).
This is true whether on earth or in heaven. We must keep seeking to please God over and above
self (II Corinthians 5:9).
Lastly, Paul also mentioned two very practical realities in the next two verses—judgment day
and evangelism. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one
may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or
bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men” (II Corinthians 5:10-11).
No wonder Paul sought to please God over self. The real question is always, “Do I use my self-
control (Galatians 5:23) to turn my life over to Jesus by pleasing Him?”
ray@rockymountainchristian.com
