As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:18-20
There seems to be a new and strong movement many are grabbing on to, a push in becoming people who know when to say “No”. Books are being written, seminars attended, and pledges are being made to become men and women who are more and more willing to say “NO”. No to picking up an extra shift, No to serving on community boards, No to an extended family event out of town, etc etc etc…. This idea of the power of saying “no” comes from the reality that people have over extended themselves and have sacrificed what is truly important in their attempt to do everything they have agreed to in life. This concept is a simple encouragement to take better care of ourselves.
However, even though I fully understand the importance of saying “No,” I don’t think “No” is our problem. I believe “Yes” is.
I am seeing more and more people becoming confident in saying “no”, but their lives stay in the same place. They just have more time to watch TV, hunt, or scan through social media, but its not as if this generation is swapping out this free time in exchange for more prayer with our children or serving the needy. We have just found more time to relax. “No” has not brought us closer to freedom, peace, or joy. This is why I say the issue is not with “no”, but with “Yes”.
In Matthew 4, scripture point us to Jesus’s first calling to the disciples. Jesus sees Peter and his brother Andrew, and He calls these men to say “Yes”.
Now there is much in this story that show the “No’s” that these followers had to tell others. Peter and Andrew would have to start saying NO to many aspects of their life where they had spent years saying “yes.” NO concerning the hours they worked fishing, NO to the crew they spent time with, NO to their careers and plans they had seen for their lives. But more importantly than all the “No’s”, is the “Yes”
In this story, Jesus does not call these men to say “no” to free up more time or ensure more rest, but to say “no” so they could replace that space with a “yes” that will result in His glory and their good. Jesus says, “I will make you fishers of men”. He calls us to our life purpose of saying YES.
There’s a beauty and freedom in saying yes to God’s calling and commands that I feel we as believers often miss out on.
This July, we celebrated Lynen’s birthday at the beach. It was an amazing moment as a father, but even more as a believer in saying “yes”. As I watched my daughter blow out candles for her 2nd birthday, I was reminded of where she spent her 1st birthday. One year ago there were no candles nor family as she lived without a place to call home. God gave us this moment with this beautiful little girl as a result of simply saying “yes”. “Yes, we will take care of the orphans.”
I have gone to many countries and led many people on different mission opportunities in serving the Lord. Encouraging couples, young and old to say ‘Yes” to missions in the midst of how easy it would be to say “no”. For the believers I have walked with in those opportunities, saying ‘yes” has never failed them. God has always grown and blessed the nets they have chosen to drop to follow Him.
I have seen and experienced what it means to love and pray for the poor and homeless. I’ve watched God bless that “Yes”. I have seen couples say ‘yes” to the local church and giving of their time, talents, and money, and God has blessed their “yes”. See, as important as it is for us to put our foot down and learn how to say “no”, we have to realize that God is calling His children to be more obedient in saying “yes”.
Saying “YES” to the things that God loves, commands, and calls us to will always lead to His blessings and our good.
Blessings,
