He Just Wants Your Yes

God keeps taking back to the first few chapters in Matthew during my time with Him in the mornings.  I was reading in chapter 3 this week after a few weeks of really hard life that has left me feeling like a failure at pretty much everything God has asked me to do....at the top of that list would be parenting 9 children! I thought about all the comments I have received, and I know others who adopt have also, about people who say, "I've thought about it, but...."  And this principle can be added to any calling God has on your life or tug He puts on your heart for any area of service or action He is calling you to.  So many times we don't do _________ (you fill in the blank) because we are afraid we will fail! As I was reading in Matthew 3, I came to verses 16 & 17 that say, "At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'"

Now I know that verse having grown up in church! But I could have sworn that verse happened at the cross when Jesus had just given up everything, been beaten and died for us! But do you know where that verse is in his life? It's at his YES! It is when John the Baptist baptizes Jesus that God says he is well pleased! It's when Jesus answered the call on his life and stepped into obedience!  It was BEFORE any miracle he would perform. It was BEFORE any people he would speak to that shook social norms. Can I tell you how much that encourages me?! So many times over the last few months I have thought for sure God over estimated my abilities as I have juggled all that I know he has called me to.  I have felt like a failure in most of those areas time and time again even becoming angry with God for asking me to carry this load that was obviously too much for me to carry. (Let me insert here that I know that last statement is theologically inaccurate and a lie from the pit of hell! But it was how I "felt". Feelings are so fickle!) But when I read this verse, I was so excited that God was pleased with me just because I said YES when he called!  When he said to start an agency almost 11 years ago, I said yes even though I was scared and had no idea what I was doing.  He was pleased with my yes every time I missed the mark in that calling because I was learning by the school of hard knocks!  He was pleased with my YES when he asked us to birth and adopt each child that we now call ours even though there have been many days I did not represent Him well to those children.  He is pleased with us when we simply yield ourselves to His will....it's not our big actions and miracles that get this response, it is our obedience and yielded spirit to Him and what He is calling us to!

So if you are like me and have felt like you missed the mark, know that God is so pleased with your yes!  And if you are thinking about a call that God has placed on your life, but you are just not sure you have what it takes, go ahead and say YES! God isn't asking you to have all the answers! He is only asking you to have one answer....YES!