By: Lisa Wilmore
Scripture: When a man’s ways please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7 KJV).
My brothers and sisters in Christ,
At some point in our lives, we may have dealt with enemies who have set themselves against us for one reason or another. In fact, these adversaries may have caused undeserved heartaches and disappointments which generated resentfulness or animosity in our hearts. With this in mind, we must perceive that we can have peace with our enemies when our ways please God. As servants of Christ, we must spend our time pleasing Him and He will turn our enemies into friends.
In the above noted scripture, the writer of Proverbs provides profound advice for governing our lives through words of wisdom. Throughout the entire book, wise sayings are prevalent and noted for teaching people how to live as Godly beings. This particular scripture conveys to us that pleasing God will bring peace with our enemies. In essence, if we live our lives according to God’s standard, He will grant our opponents a better attitude toward us with the ultimate result of fostering lasting peace with them.
As revealed in the book of Genesis, two brothers, Jacob and Esau were adversaries while in the womb. Jacob was guilty of falsely taking the birthright and blessing of his brother, Esau. This act of deceit caused dissension between the two for many years. Esau was bitter and actually desired to do harm to Jacob for deceiving him. He desired to kill his brother which caused them to be separated for many years until they were reunited (Genesis 25 and 27).
Significantly, God changed Esau’s heart and restored the two brothers’ fellowship. Moses records that when they saw each other, “Esau ran, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” (Genesis 33:4). Wow, what a reunion!
Are we in need of making peace with persons with whom we have lost fellowship? If so, we must continue to please God and He will remove the bitterness from our adversaries’ hearts as well as ours, also.
It is important to realize that our ways must please God by believing in Him and doing His will. Jesus, our Savior, set the example of pleasing God. He endured excruciating crucifixion for our sins because of His divine assignment set forth by His Father. We too must be willing to please the Father and totally give our lives to him.
After all, our ways please God when we are able to forgive and love others as He loved us.
