Day Thirty Four - When Heaven's Yes Encourages Our Yes
I woke up today with this thought about 'heaven's YES'. It is Christmas today here. I woke so grateful for the Trinity's 'yes'. When we pull back Jesus draws near. That alone is an invitation to keep saying 'yes' on this journey.
So today I reflected again on my 'why' and my 'yes' and that felt quite important to do on Christmas in my devotions
These daughters said ‘yes’ to something that had such generational impact and such ‘now’ impact. Yes can happen when we don’t box what an opportunity looks like
Opportunity can be wrapped in many different boxes.
Opportunity for me has looked like a whole lot of serving and a whole lot of preparation.
Opportunity for me has looked like valuing each individual as important and more than a crowd.
Opportunity has looked like months of sickness when I was pregnant.
Opportunity has looked like pain and grief
Opportunity has looked like inconvenience
Jesus life was full of interruptions that looked like it was diverting him from his destinations – but they all became part of his destiny. Sometimes, as a mum and a leader, I do think we are stewarding a generation that needs to be reminded of the power in the inconvenient yes. This is where my resilience was nurtured.
It’s the power of YES. It is often an inconvenient YES when I just wanted to say NO....
Below is a long (so scan it as quick as you want!) list of my often inconvenient yes moments. You might want to write yours out at some point because I believe it gives strength to your present and your future:
My heart said Yes to Jesus in a warehouse in Sydney when my head said NO I don't want to count the cost of freedom
I said Yes to youth instead of parties on Friday nights and just went later even though turning up later meant I was left out.
I said Yes to cleaning the old buildings our church was in and renovating it on my Saturdays for months cause I loved the House of God more than my social life (and here anyway we found such great friends)
Yes to being baptized in a river that was dirty, cold and wet so I came up a new creation.
Yes to the Holy Spirit when my brain still said NO!
Yes to jumping in praise at a camp and finding liberation even though I thought everyone was looking at me
Yes to confession when my pride said NO
Yes to submission when my FLESH cried out NO
Yes to instruction & accountability when my HUMANITY said NO
Yes to loneliness when my soul wanted companionship
Yes to picking up & hanging out with young people when my budget said NO
Yes to looking ridiculous in front of people I was leading so that their destinies would be secure
Yes to bible college and an hour and a half drive to keep going back to my local church when i could have just moved closer
Yes to working at a dirty old leagues club waitressing just to get through College
Yes to picking up a hitch hiker and leading him to Jesus (don't recommend it these days!)
Yes to the challenge from God to stop being so independant and embrace a godly relationship when my heart feared marriage
Yes to our leaders when we wanted to get married and they said no not yet
Yes to a Saturday morning wedding so it wouldn't affect Saturday night
church attendance - which meant a 4am start as a bride for a 9.30am wedding!
Yes to the sacrifice of a rat-infected barn for $50/week a long way away to serve more in our youth
Yes to living with other people to save money again to be volunteering in youth
Yes to a car load of uni students every Friday night
Yes to campus ministry walking around sharing Jesus with strangers
Yes to my pastor when she needed babysitters instead of the glamourous part of ministry - choosing to make her life easier over opportunities to preach
Yes to long phone calls on my own mobile phone at my own expense
Yes to 10 day retreats taking an oath of silence so I could HEAR God beyond the clanging sounds of my busy life
Yes to diligence with a database that was more than just numbers when I wanted to say NO I cant be bothered
Yes to reports ON TIME when I hated using a computer
Yes to laying down any vision I had and just serving faithfully even when misunderstood by people around me
Yes to giving my ideas to someone else who got the credit
Yes to serving in a strong male culture
Yes to being planted for 20 years
Yes to dressing up when I wanted to be so casual & hippy (even makeup
was a big dea)l - because I realised excellence is also an outward choice
Yes to building Gods church anywhere around the world
Yes to giving away a car
Yes to giving sacrificially to be part of kingdom giving because I knew that's where our pastor felt safest
Yes to returning to work with a four month old because NO wasn't an
option when I asked God
Yes to no money for 7 years and refusing to feel under valued because
my value wasn't in a position or opportunity
Yes to Gods promptings to stay when we thought we were ready to go for 7
years!!!
Yes to trembling in our senior pastors office with a vision to submit
so mindful that his no would be our no
Yes to trusting God in a man because of His mantle - even through his humanity
Yes to the Gold Coast with a 16 month old not walking and 6 day old newborn
Yes to the Gold Coast so overwhelmed each day without my family
Yes to the Lord when no one understood a women in ministry
Yes when we had no friends
Yes to rising up when those closest devastate you and betray you
Yes to looking 'on' and faking it when all my pregnancies I suffered
severe depression and vomited up to 20 times a day
Yes to life some days that I just didn't want to live
Yes to doing life tired
Yes to continue loving my husband even through our challenges
Yes to my girls when they need me 24 hours a day!
Yes to 5am starts to be present, focused and organized
Yes to Montreal when I knew not a single person and my heart was breaking to leave family and friends
Yes to being misunderstood in how God called us.
Yes even when I question why and where
Yes again and again
Yes to the stretch again in my mid forties as I step out into new endeavours
Yes to God first and His Church my passion
Tell me about your INCONVENIENT YES moments .. I have a felling they have brought you to your NOW moments!
Thanks for reading this list (and it is not even finished.. it will go on for all our lives until heaven right)
xxx