Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
We were created for God’s pleasure. The word pleasure in the Greek is Thelema and its definition is:
what one wishes or has determined shall be done
of the purpose of God to bless mankind through Christ
of what God wishes to be done by us
commands, precepts will, choice, inclination, desire, pleasure
It was God’s choice to create us and His desire. In these days of tough economic times and with all the things going on in the world, it’s sometimes hard for someone to understand what God really had in mind. It would seem as if we were created for his pleasure that he would take no pleasure in our suffering. He doesn’t take any pleasure in it at all.
When I was growing up, I thought God was just sitting on a throne of judgment with a scowl on his face ready to render judgment and cast my soul to hell. This is why I have such a problem with parents who tell their kids that, “God’s gonna get you”! Not that my parents did that, but my religion did. They meant well, it kept us on a specific track but it wasn’t biblical.
So while we find ourselves in uncertain times and we look to heaven and wonder why God allowed this, the answer is He didn’t. There is a little thing called Free Will that gives us the ability to change the track of where we are supposed to go. When God is in control of our lives, he directs where we are going. Often we ignore his direction.
My husband has a love/hate relationship with Navigation System in our car. He takes the time to punch in the address and then argues with directions. Halfway through the trip he is changing course and direction and is in a battle with the Navigation System as to the best way to get there.
We were created for his pleasure. He takes delight in our well doing but just as any parent, he isn’t so pleased with our errors. I have two adult children and I want everything to be perfect for them but sometimes they make decisions without wise counsel and that sends them on a path that I would have never chosen for them. Yet, they are adults who live in their own homes and I must abide by their decisions whether I agree with them or not.
It is the same with God. In order to establish a kingdom on earth. He then put a king on earth, Adam, and eventually you and I. He had to then allow us to make decisions that shaped and influenced our kingdom. God’s hope and his pleasure was that we’d counsel up. Imagine the feeling that God must have when our prayers come up not for the messes we find ourselves in but for counsel for the things we are thinking about doing?
Just like the Navigation System where we punch in the address, then we change course and question routes, we find ourselves driving in wrong directions or taking a long scenic tour instead of the course originally set. When people say things like, “If God is so good why are there people suffering on the planet?” We need only to point the finger at the masters of that planet, you and I. If we could learn to live for His pleasure we’d find a lot of answers to the world’s problems and eradicate much of the suffering. Maybe this year, we’ll get a little closer to what’s important.
Pastor Susan 
Pastor Susan, thank you so much for this post. I know you wrote this two days ago, but I just read it today and find it fitting that I did so.
I am thinking of my birth mother today because 16 years ago today she went Home. She who believed she had to fight for everything in her life–and she pretty much did, poor thing, because she’d had a very screwed up upbringing and life–passed into eternity on Veteran’s Day.
And why am I bringing this up? Because you wrote, “This is why I have such a problem with parents who tell their kids that, ‘God’s gonna get you’! Not that my parents did that, but my religion did. They meant well, it kept us on a specific track but it wasn’t biblical.” Well, my mother did say that to me, or something similar. For quite a few years she believed she had an inside track to God (it’s part of the religion we belonged to then) and when we girls were less than perfect, she’d say, “I’m going to talk to God and see to it that you die!” And, no, she didn’t mean it for our good: she was taking out on us the fact that life or circumstances weren’t going her way.
She stopped talking to me when I was 27 because I decided I no longer wanted to be a Witness, and would accept no communication from me for the next 10 1/2 years. But then my sister (who also wouldn’t talk to me, for the same reason) called me one day and said mother was dying and, if I wanted to, I could come make my peace with her. Granted, my sister’s idea of “making peace” was to repent of daring to believe that another way of reading the Bible (apart from the Watchtower & Tract Society) was right. Me? Go back to that? Not on your life! Not when I’d been introduced to the real Jesus four and one-half years after I left! Still, I went to see her, because I wanted my mother to know I loved her and forgave her for our horrid upbringing, also because I had to thank the woman who said something that has stuck with me all the days of my life. “Life is awful,” she told me when I was in elementary school, “and people will always hurt you. But God never will, and everything in the Bible is true. Never forget that.” And I haven’t. God doesn’t/can’t/won’t hurt us, and His Word is unfailingly true.
The other reason I went is because the Lord assured me I’d see her again when it was my turn to go Home. And I believe Him, knowing that He can read hearts.
So on this day when so many of us remember those who’ve given their lives for us, I also remember the woman who, despite all the harm she caused, set me on the right path for eternity. “Happy 16th Birthday in Heaven, Mom!”
And to you, Pastor Susan,
All of Heaven’s best to you and yours,
Margret
Good Morning Margret,
My heart goes out to you today. I am always saddened when religion tears families apart. I love what your mother told you about God never failing you and that every word in the bible being true. What a testimony to your walk with the Lord. To think that her words sowed a seed that flourished! What a comfort it must be to know that your mom is at peace, at home and that all has been revealed to her!