Mensa Otabil - When You Please the Lord (10/23/2025)
This week we are studying the Book of Proverbs. As I said earlier, the Book of Proverbs is a practical theology of how to live out the Christian life. You know God, we know His word, we know what He expects from us, but how do we practically live out this faith that we have come to embrace through Jesus Christ?
In the Book of Proverbs, we find practical ways to live out our faith. So, we go to chapter 16, and we're looking at verse number seven. It says, "When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." We are always going to be faced with enemies. They can be spiritual enemies, there can be physical enemies, enemies within, and enemies without. The challenge for all of us is: what do we do with an enemy? Somebody who doesn't want our well-being, who doesn't seek our well-being, how do we handle them? Do we hound them, do we pray against them, do we try to destroy them? How do we deal with enemies?
It's a very important subject for each one of us, and this passage gives us practical ways to deal with an enemy. First, it says our ways must please the Lord. Our ways must please the Lord. That means our attitudes and our motives must be right. Our actions must be right; they must be just and they must be fair. You know, sometimes we think somebody is an enemy simply because we are wrong and they are right. We're doing the wrong thing, and they're doing the right thing, but they become the enemy.
So, how do we determine who is an enemy? Are your ways pleasing to the Lord? Are you in the right? Are you doing the right thing? Is your attitude right? Because, for example, if you go to work and you're lazy, and somebody is really giving you trouble in the office, you can't call him your enemy. Or if you steal and somebody catches you, you can't call that person your enemy. First of all, our ways must please the Lord. We must do things that bring honor to the Lord, and when we are sure that we are pleasing the Lord, then the promise comes. He says, "Even your enemies, the Lord will make even your enemies to be at peace with you."
So, the enemies here are those who are fighting the will of God because you have always pleased the Lord, and they are fighting you. A classic example is Joseph. Joseph is in Potiphar's house; he is blackmailed by Potiphar's wife. His ways please the Lord; he doesn't commit adultery and he flees, but he gets punished for doing the right thing. Yet, his ways please the Lord, and God causes even his enemies to work to his advantage.
In Pharaoh's prison, he is elevated to a position far above Potiphar, and that's how it works out. When we please God, when we do the will of God-not when we've compromised and when we're living in sin or when we are living in anger and jealousy, and we say, "Well, you know, that's my enemy"- no, it's when we please the Lord. If there are people who punish us for pleasing the Lord, then God says He will cause even your enemies to be at peace with you. That phrase "at peace with you" doesn't just mean they will reconcile with you; it means they will work towards your promotion and well-being.
Now, how does an enemy work toward your well-being? Most of the time, they do it unwillingly. Many times, they do it unwittingly; that means they don't know they are working to your advantage, but they are working to your advantage. Sometimes God makes them do things contrary to what they have planned to execute in your life. All of that is premised on the fact that your ways please the Lord. When your ways please the Lord, when my ways please the Lord, forget about enemies-don't even bother about them. Don't even think about praying against them because God will use them as instruments for your well-being. That's God's promise, and it's a practical way to live out our faith.
Let's pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I choose to please You in all my ways. Use my enemies to promote and prosper me. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, I'll catch you again tomorrow. I'm Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.