This can apply to so many things, interviewing for a new job, starting a blog you've been wanting to start, starting a business, taking a college class you've been meaning to take. It can also be in small things, going to an event that you really don't want to attend, joining the gym, joining a bible study, book club, calling that person giving a word of encouragement, writing a thank you note to someone. We don't always know the impact we make by saying yes to what I call assignments; things we are purposed to do.
We are in the last part of the year. I snapped this picture at the beginning of September while I was at an onsite homeschool class my son was at. I had felt this theme that God was putting on my heart, to step out and say yes, I heard it throughout messages at church, I heard it through things my husband was encouraging me to do. So when I saw this sign while dropping my son off at a class, I took a picture and said: "okay Lord, I hear you". Have you ever experienced that? Where you hear or see the same thing over and over, everywhere you go. You hear it in songs on the radio. At the end of this post, I am also going to share a song that came out this year by Lauren Daigle, called "You Say" I hope you'll take the time to listen because it goes with this theme this message of saying yes! I've been meaning to sit down and write a post just about this song.
When vision is clear the results will appear. Give yourself permission to dream! Imagine yourself living your dream! So I revisited my vision board, updated pictures, spent some quiet time, seeing myself living my best life. It has changed the way I go about my everyday life. It has changed the way I feel about myself, my life and what I do every day.
We are all called to be a world changer! Your "world" can consist of many things, as a mom, I am called to be a world changer in my home, impacting and shaping my family, making a difference at the schools my children attend, encouraging the moms in my circle, making a difference on our sports teams. You can be a world changer at the office you work at, noticing that co-worker that needs help or needs to be appreciated, you can be a world changer at the grocery store, at your local park picking up litter. Sometimes we think a small task doesn't make a difference or no one notices, but believe me, people are watching you. You have an audience everywhere you go and no matter how small the task may seem or how big, you make a difference. Be the difference maker everywhere you go.
A scripture I say daily is Psalm 23, in the recent months with this "say yes" theme, I have been emphasizing on one line that says "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." and "He leadeth me beside the still waters." There are many times when I feel God or the Holy Spirit leading me to do something that I don't want to do, this verse helps remind me that I give access to God to "make me" "lead me", He doesn't really force or make you do anything it is always your choice, but what I mean by "make me" is God knows what makes me tick, He knows what motivates me, and what to say to get me to step out of my comfort zone and say yes. This is more of a prayer "Lord make me lie down in green pastures," I trust you know the plan you have for my life, I trust you know what you are doing in me. Even though I don't want to do this help me. Sometimes we don't see the purpose I've come to know that God is always working even when I don't see it or don't feel it. I can look back at jobs I've had, volunteer work I've done, they all have helped me many years down the road, the experience I gained yes was for that moment, but I see now many years past that many things I've said yes to in the past are for this very moment in time. Think of assignments as steps we need to take to get to the next path. Think of the things you are being pressed to do as links in a chain, they connect, or building blocks on a foundation, sometimes we do something, take a job, go to an event, and it's like a building block, that in one sense no major thing takes place, but it builds upon something being done on the inside of you for your future. Think of it as part of the blueprint when you build a house there are steps to get that finished product.
I love this passage of scripture in the Passion Translation.
I hear the Lord saying, “I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with my eyes as your guide. So don’t make it difficult; don’t be stubborn when I take you where you’ve not been before. Don’t make me tug you and pull you along. Just come with me!” So my conclusion is this: Many are the sorrows and frustrations of those who don’t come clean with God. But when you trust in the Lord for forgiveness, his wrap-around love will surround you.
It reminds me of times when I am stubborn and resist where God is leading me, that I find myself frustrated. Frustrated with life or frustrated with a situation, but so often if I would just say yes to what God is asking me to do, although it may seem hard the grace comes to accomplish the task and the frustration leaves. Our pastor has done a visual of this where he takes the hand of someone and leads them walking and as you follow easily, holding the hand, it's easy you follow to the left, you go to the right sometimes missing an obstacle, sometimes walking right into a blessing, but then he shows when you start to pull back or resist going, it's hard, you get tired when if you would just go with the flow it's easier. Saying yes to the assignments God is bringing your way takes the frustration out.
My encouragement to you is that you allow yourself to be stretched, to do those things that may seem out of your comfort zone. Stop resisting, all of us resist in different ways, sometimes it is through self-doubt and it's because we don't believe in ourselves. If you can't believe in yourself believe in the greater one who has created you for a greater purpose. Sometimes we resist with excuses, we think we are too busy, we can't take that class we've been meaning to take, we can't go to that event because it is too far. Eliminate the excuses, just say yes!
Listen to that still small voice. For me it's the voice of God, some people refer to it as their conscience. Many times it's something you see or hear everywhere you go. If you are hearing the same thing everywhere you go or seeing something everywhere you go I believe that is God speaking to you, leading you. LISTEN!
Be open! Too often we are not open to change, or new ideas. Embrace it! Just decide to go with the flow.
Step out. Take the chance, interview for the job, go to the event, start your business, take the class, make that phone call, write that letter. As you take a little step and get started, the next steps will come in line. Many times the path is not clear when you first start, but as you take each step, clarity comes, you'll begin to see the greater purpose.
The thing that often helps me take the step, is meditating on God's Word. Going over these scriptures I just mentioned, reminding myself of Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Allow God to give you hope and a future. Dream big, believe in yourself, you are amazing.
Here is a picture of a birthday card that I cut out and put on my vision board. I hope it encourages you as much as it has me. It's things like this, that again reminds me of what God is saying to me. You're already amazing, say yes to the plan He has for your life. Say yes to things He is asking you to do, because you are a gift from God, a blessing to this world. You are a world changer!
Here is a picture of a birthday card that I cut out and put on my vision board. I hope it encourages you as much as it has me. It's things like this, that again reminds me of what God is saying to me. You're already amazing, say yes to the plan He has for your life. Say yes to things He is asking you to do, because you are a gift from God, a blessing to this world. You are a world changer!
Abraham – leaving his land, having a child in old age, being willing to love God more than the promise he was promised.
Noah – building the ark when by the way it had never rained before then. Can you imagine, being asked to build an ark, with no sign of a flood coming, people laughing at you, people not understanding why you're doing what you are doing.
Joseph – forgiving his brothers who sold him into slavery.
Moses – going to Pharoah to let the Israelites go
Rahab in hiding the spies.
Joshua – leading to the promise land.
David fighting Goliath the giant.
Samuel – when he thought Eli was calling him when it was God calling him and saying yes Lord, here am I.
Esther – going to the King to save her people, an entire nation.
Daniel – not bowing to worship idols or eat like the rest of them. Standing out, doing things differently. Standing up for His beliefs.
Mary – carrying Jesus, a virgin birth, wow.
The Disciples – leaving all and following Jesus.
Paul going to the Gentiles and preaching the gospel, to the very people he persecuted.
I like to think of our pastors who said yes and went to Bible college obeying the call of God on their life for ministry. Our pastor left his construction company in his 30's when he had five kids to provide for, and started on the path to ministry. Sometimes we look at people at where they are in life "now" but we forget to look at the journey they took. The steps they took, the times they said yes to the assignments God put on their heart and stepped out in faith and now look at the lives they have impacted. I can see the impact they have made in our community by saying yes to different things God has put on their heart, starting a community car wash, having a food closet and budget program, doing community clean-ups, dinners for our local law enforcement. Praying for and encouraging a teenage girl shopping at their local bookstore, (me), my life is forever changed because they obeyed the call of God on their life. Because they said yes to leaving all their family in Michigan and moving to California to start a church. At the end of this post, I am going to share the video we showed at church for Clergy Appreciation month, I am sharing it as a reminder of the journey. I hope it will inspire you, remind you, it is in doing what you are being asked to do today, that shapes your life for your future assignment. It may not be a ministry call for your life but let us just say you are called to give to a charitable organization or start one for example. before you can give a million dollars, you have to give the ten dollars, the hundred dollars, it all starts somewhere.
I can even remember a family I babysat for when I was thirteen, who invested in my life who took me to church and planted the seed of faith in my life. They took me on family vacations and just lived a life that I admired and looked up to. They showed me the love of God and the goodness of God just by living their everyday life. I did not get born again until I was fifteen, two years after meeting them, they were part of the plan planting the seed, shaping my life.
I can even go back further to my grandmother who dedicated me to the Lord as a toddler when my parents were not serving God or living for God. I firmly believe God had His hand on my life all the years before my born-again experience because of my grandmother's prayers, because she took me to church as a toddler and had me dedicated to Him.
You don't always see the impact you are making on someone's life immediately. You don't always see what your phone call of encouragement did, or how the gift you gave made the difference. Say yes, it makes a difference in you AND others!!!
I like to use my husbands job as an example too, he has had complete industry changes, each one has impacted who he is today, he has worked in radio, he worked in construction and then he left the pest control industry and went to work for someone, who offered him an opportunity in a completely different field. It was in working for that company that he gained the experience he needed to work at his current company. Each company he's worked for has built something in him not only work-related or industry related, but each place of employment also shaped him the person. He learned, he grew as a person, father, husband at each place.
I like to use my husbands job as an example too, he has had complete industry changes, each one has impacted who he is today, he has worked in radio, he worked in construction and then he left the pest control industry and went to work for someone, who offered him an opportunity in a completely different field. It was in working for that company that he gained the experience he needed to work at his current company. Each company he's worked for has built something in him not only work-related or industry related, but each place of employment also shaped him the person. He learned, he grew as a person, father, husband at each place.
Here is also a quote that I have come across in so many places recently it is a great reminder.
CS Lewis - You can’t go back and change the beginning but you can start where you are and change the ending.
I am so grateful God does not give up on us and it is never too late to get started. Never too late to do something new, it's a new day every day, maybe you have not said yes to things in the past, maybe you haven't stepped out of your comfort zone and followed your dream, the call on your life. Don't look at the past, you can say yes today, you can take a step today!
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SONG BY LAUREN DAIGLE "You Say"
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