You are doomed to make choices. This is life's greatest paradox.”—Wayne Dyer

The problem with questions is that sometimes they lead to more questions. That's where I found myself while reading Bruce McNicol’s book, TrueFaced. I do a lot of reading, but his questions stopped me in my tracks:

Am I trying to please God, or am I trusting God?

Quite frankly, I didn't like the idea of having to choose between these two. So I connected with my friend, Dr. Ramesh Richard from Dallas Seminary. “Ramesh, have you read through True Faced? (Of course, he’d read it; he’s read everything.) I asked him what he thought. He said, “You know I really like the concept. I would probably word it a little differently, but I think Bruce’s wording is completely clear and accurate.” Rats. I was still on the hook to figure this thing out. The question seemed to be boiling down to this:

1. I can choose to trust in myself, and in my own efforts in order to earn God's pleasure.
2. I can choose to trust in Christ, allowing Him to live His life through me, to enable me to live a life that is pleasing to God.

At first, it seemed like a very subtle difference. Maybe this was all just a little word game? But the more I thought about it, the more the significance of this choice impacted me.

• The question revealed what I believed about my own abilities outside of Christ.
• The question revealed my true beliefs about God's grace and mercy.
• The question revealed a lot about the natural tendency all humans have towards self-righteousness.
• The question revealed what I believed about God, and how I thought He saw me in Christ.

How would I answer the question? How would you answer the question?

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
         Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
         and lead me in the way everlasting.—Psalm 139:23-24

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