This phrase recently caught my attention: “God is easy to please and hard to satisfy.” How does that strike you?
Some picture God as the unsmiling coach who chides his team after winning a game, “You made mistakes; be at practice first thing in the morning so I can whip you into what you ought to be,” or like the boss who never praises his people but continually tells them how to improve.
Years ago, my little son made a Lego house for me to take to work. It was simple and small. Many small hands could have done it, and it wasn’t anything special to look at, but I regarded it with pleasure and pride because my son had built it—for me. I kept it on my desk for years. I could have said, “Son, I see what you are trying to do here, but this doesn’t look much like a real house. You are heading in the right direction, but you have a long way to go before you have a worthwhile piece of architecture. Study some more, try some more, and get back to me.” But every father on earth knows how silly that would have been. My son’s gift pleased me because it was what he could do at his age, and he did it for me.
God is pleased with our gifts, however meager and insignificant they many seem. Just a cup of water given to a little one in the name of Jesus will receive a reward (Matthew 10.42).
God Is Easy to Please
Take the parable of the talents, for example, in Matthew 25.14–30. A master entrusted three men with money (talents) and expected them to grow that wealth. The man with five talents doubled his master’s money. The man with the two talents doubled his. Both were praised because they had used what the master had entrusted to them and had turned a profit. It didn’t matter the exact return on investment—what mattered was that there was a return. The third man buried his talent out of fear of losing what the master had entrusted, but that was not obedience. He returned the one talent, but he showed no profit. The master said, “You ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.” In other words, just do something with what has been entrusted to you.
Remember the parable of the soils in Matthew 13.1–9, 18–23? What distinguished the good soil from the other three kinds of soil? The good soil produced crops which bore fruit. The seed which was planted was multiplied. Some multiplied 100-fold, some 60, and some 30, but all were fruitful, and all were considered “good soil.” It’s not about the exact amount or percentage of fruit we bear for the Lord; it’s about bearing some fruit for the Lord. God is pleased with fruit in whatever quantity.
God Is Hard to Satisfy
On the other hand, God pushes us towards perfection. “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5.48). “As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1.15).
“Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1.5–11
God commands effort. He demands diligence. He requires growth. We can easily feel overwhelmed when we study His holiness and perfection and realize how distant we are from it in our own hearts and actions.
God is not satisfied with leaving us where we are. He won’t be satisfied until we are made like Christ. In his old age, Paul said he had put his former life successes behind him and counted them as loss “that I may gain Christ and be found in Him . . . that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own” (Philippians 3.8, 11–12). The apostle was not satisfied with himself and looked forward to obtaining perfection, which, he points out, would not take place until his resurrection. God will not be satisfied until we are brought to perfection. Therefore, God will not be satisfied with us until after we die.
Enjoy God’s Pleasure Now
We should not mix up God’s immediate pleasure in us with God’s plan to perfect us. If we think we must attain perfection before we please God, we are unhappily mistaken and robbing ourselves of much joy. “Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright” (Psalm 33.1).
What does God want from us? Surely He demands some great thing?
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6.8
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
Matthew 25.34–40
God loves your praises, and He is pleased with you when you love your neighbor as yourself. He loves it when you exercise self-control and demonstrate patience and kindness.
Though He won’t be satisfied until you are fully glorified, He is pleased as you make progress along the path towards Him.
Take joy—God is easy to please. And rejoice because He won’t be satisfied until you are made perfect.