I’ve stopped listening

It’s weird to be blogging again after not posting in over a month. I haven’t been reading my fellow bloggers’ posts during this time, so I definitely feel out of the loop with what’s happening in the blogging community.

For those of you that have been following His New Creation for quite some time now, you know my schedule. Every Tuesday, I would publish a new post, and on rare occasions, I would do two posts in one week.

You’re probably also familiar with a particular post I published back in June about why I skipped writing one week for the first time. The ultimate purpose of this blog is not to be self-serving. His New Creation is something that I felt God calling me to begin, stepping out in complete faith to try my hand at blogging in order to encourage others and also share the Gospel. As I mentioned in “A guide in the wilderness,” if I don’t feel God’s peace or calling for me to write, I won’t do it.

That’s where I’ve been since August. I’ve been in prayer over His New Creation, asking for God’s guidance in the direction of this blog. I wasn’t even sure if He was wanting me to continue. There were moments when I would sit down and try to type, but I couldn’t find the words to write.

Until now.

Accompanying that desire to please God in my blogging was a desire to please others. I have a tendency to be a perfectionist and a people-pleaser, and this break from blogging has been constant friction in that area of my life.

As I’ve asked for God’s help in blogging, discouragements would enter my mind. Statements from other bloggers saying “you can find time to write every day, don’t make excuses,” filled my head. My desires to “grow” and “reach more people” with words of encouragement mixed with external pressures to “grow” and “reach more people” because it would make me more successful as a blogger.

After much prayer, I think God gave me clarity in this area, and today I’ve made a decision:

I’ve stopped listening.

I’ve stopped listening to the external voices that have pressured me to write constantly, in which I believe I would have been stepping out of God’s will for my writing during this season.

I’ve stopped listening to the external voices that have told me that maybe I should stop blogging altogether.

I’ve stopped listening to myself, wondering what people would think if I stopped blogging weekly or altogether.

Quite honestly, a few hours ago I didn’t expect to be writing this post, let alone blogging at all. But for the first time in a few months, I have peace.

Maybe you can relate to where I am right now. I don’t know what your situation may be, but perhaps you’re struggling with the battle of pleasing God versus pleasing men. Different people may be offering you advice, and you’ve reached a point that you don’t know what to do anymore.

I’m not saying to completely ignore people’s wisdom and advice. I believe God uses people to encourage us and even provides them with words to say that He needs us to hear. In fact, I’ve had an incredible group of people who have been a great source of encouragement for me and have been praying alongside me in this area. However, we have to ensure that we’re not valuing others’ personal opinions over what God has called us to do.

Ultimately, our decisions can be traced back to our motives: are we trying to please God, or men?

After The Dinner Party Challenge and with reading through the New Testament, I’ve really grown to appreciate Paul. Regarding the topic of God versus men, I think Paul does an excellent job of wording this struggle. In Galatians 1:10, Paul writes: “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

I still don’t know what God’s plan is for His New Creation. I don’t even know when my next blog post will be. But for now, I will continue to follow in obedience, writing as He leads me. For those of you who are striving to please God over men in a particular area of your life, I am praying for you. I pray that God will give you clarity, wisdom, and peace as you continue to follow in His will and plans for you.

No matter what challenges we’re encountering, we can have peace in knowing that God will guide us.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).