Saying Yes
In the Bible there are so many times when saying “Yes” to God took incredible courage.
God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to the people, even though it was considered one of the worst and most dangerous cities around. Jonah was so daunted by this request that he ran in the opposite direction.
God told Moses to be the voice of the Israelites and to lead them out of slavery. How much courage do you think it took Moses to say “Yes” to that?
God told Paul he would be His chosen instrument to bring the gospel to the the Gentiles. This one wasn’t easy either. For Paul, this meant leaving his position of power as a Pharisee, and it meant having to convince the apostles that he was genuine and no longer trying to kill them. It meant risking his life countless times, imprisonment, and torture. And eventually, it meant Paul would become a martyr. Still, Paul said “Yes.”
There are so many other Biblical stories where answering God “Yes” took immense courage. Noah. Caleb and Joshua. Elijah. Hosea. Peter. Jesus. So my question is Why would we expect anything different today? Why would we want to follow Jesus but expect the road to be easy and expect not to need courage when He asks things of us??
He has shown me over the last few years that truly following Him is going to take courage again and again. Three years ago, He told me to go on the World Race Gap Year. This meant leaving home for 9 months to go to a bunch of places I had never been to with a bunch of strangers I had never met. I said “Yes.” And it took courage. And it was amazing.
Last year, God asked me to lead a mission trip with my church to Nicaragua. This meant leading 19 people, most of them much older than me. It meant taking on a whole array of leadership responsibilities that I had never experienced before. I said “Yes.” And it took courage. And it was amazing.
Now, God has asked me to go to CGA. And I have said “Yes.” And it has taken some courage. It’s taken courage because it means suspending my education at App State and not being sure if or when I’ll continue my formal education. It’s taken courage because it means no longer living with my brother, who’s my best friend. It’s taken courage because it means relying on God to move the hearts of other people to support me financially.
But here’s the amazing thing I’ve figured out about God: He requires us to be courageous to follow Him, but it is God that gives us the courage we need. It is God who has given me everything I need to say “Yes” and everything else I have needed along the way. And it’s God whom I trust will provide everything I need in the future, as I continue doing my best every time to answer Him “Yes.”
Shout out to all you who have supported me financially in my journey to CGA. So far I’ve raised $3,845. This means I’ve reached my first goal already!
My next support raising goal is $4,890 by October 16th.
And my ultimate goal is $8,650 by February.
Please pray about joining my team of support!
So, what is God asking of you right now that takes courage?
Maybe He’s asking you to be a part of my support team. If so, will you say “Yes”?
Maybe He’s leading you to make some other decision that’s going to take courage from you. If so, He will give you the courage you need; I promise.
Whatever He’s asking of you, you just have to give him an answer. What will you say?
