There’s a story in the Bible about a man named Herod (one of several). This man was an enemy to the gospel and put Peter (one of Jesus’ disciples) in prison. God miraculously had Peter escape from prison, and Herod was not the happiest camper. After looking for Peter in prison and not finding him, he ordered the sentries who were supposed to be guarding him to be killed.
Anyway, the point I’m getting at isn’t directly tied to this story, but this helps set up the context for who Herod is. In the very next section in the book of Acts, it talks about how the people came before Herod and begged for peace because they depended on the king’s country for food. It says he delivered an oration to them…and that’s where things got interesting.
Apparently, this must have been a heck of a speech, because the people started shouting “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” They were worshiping him. Plain and simple. I’m sure this felt good for him. In a way, he might have thought that he had achieved peak humanity. People worshiping you. Giving you anything you wanted and bowing down to you…what else could you want? He had gained the whole world.
But the very next verse: “Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.”
A man who just felt like he was on top of the world. Who “had it all.” Anyone might look at him with jealous wishing they had what he had, yet it ended with him being struck down and eaten by worms. What he had maybe worked for his entire life, was completely gone. In an instant, none of that mattered. Most people today likely don’t even know his story, and wouldn’t, unless it was part of the bigger story God is telling through his inspired word.
A man gained the whole world, and lost it in an instant. But what else happened. The next verse: “But the word of God increased and multiplied.”
There was something much bigger at work than Herod or even Peter. Peter was part of something. He wasn’t the thing, but he was part of it. This allowed him to live his life without fear that what he strove for was meaningless. Even if he died, the call that he was being obedient to was to glorify God by sharing the truth of Him and His son with the world. If he lived his life doing that, whether he died at 10 years old or 100 years old, he was useful for the kingdom of God, and who knows had that could have affected people 2000 years down the line.
Maybe I only know Christ because Peter shared the good news with someone else.
If we stopped people-pleasing and started going only after what God commanded us and seeking His will, we will not only not live a wasted life, but we will also live happier because when we are abiding in God, we are most satisfied.