Yes & Amen
These words have taken on a whole new level of importance for me lately. Over and over God has been showing me how all He really wants from us is our “yes” and “amen.” Sometimes we can overcomplicate our faith and think that we have to earn good things, or work for blessings. While there is definitely a time for good behavior and hard work, I believe that God loves us too much to allow the goodness of our lives to be determined by how good we are. There are countless times in the Bible where Jesus says “follow me.” He doesn’t expect us to be perfect, or to have it all figured out. All He asks is that we show up with a willing and worshipful spirit.
This year has been a consistent stream of saying yes to plans and dreams that seemed too big or unclear to follow through on such as: packing up all of our belongings to live on the road for a few months, leading 5 retreats in 2019, starting a new business less than a year after I started my first. These were all difficult and scary decisions to make, but every. single. time. God has shown up in powerful ways. Despite my doubts, fears and missteps He still brought to life the dreams He had called me too, and guess what? Every time it has been better than I could have imagined.
This fall I had the opportunity to lead a 5 day wellness retreat, and I cried as I told the girls how confident I felt that we were all exactly where we were meant to be at that moment, and that God was going to move in powerful, powerful ways during the retreat (spoiler: He absolutely did.) Throughout the weekend, whenever I looked at their faces and heard their stories, I felt overwhelmed with the evidence of God’s goodness and how He truly wants to give us the desires of our hearts. The feeling of His hand being upon the weekend was so real, that it seriously gives me chills just to write about it, and all it took to make it happen was a “yes” (well and some pretty serious prayer and hard work!)
There were plenty of times throughout the retreat planning process that I wanted to quit. There was so much I didn’t know and I felt like I didn’t have what it takes to make it happen. And guess what? I was right. I didn’t have what it took, but God did, and He promised to carry me through.
We often hesitate to move forward because we feel unprepared or incapable, but how many times does God tell us in the Bible to “not have fear” and to walk with a confidence and boldness that is motivated by our faith. If I had said yes to fear and no to God, then the retreat wouldn’t have happened and we all would have missed out on the opportunity to experience God in new ways. I don’t want you to miss out on God’s best for you because of fear.
So let’s take a minute to strip back the fear and just be really honest.
In what areas of life are you saying “yes” to fear and “no” to God?
What are you missing out on because of it?
What would it take for you to start moving forward in faith?
We should feel overwhelmed and honored at the reality that when we show up with our “yes” God allows us to partner with Him in bringing heaven down to earth. He invites us to be part of a bigger story, and to make an impact far greater than we could ever make on our own. What a beautiful gift it is, and to that I say, amen.