“Yes, Lord”

Two words

Just two

Two words spoken from a believing heart

The first indicating agreement, while the other….

Surrender.

Rare,

Beautiful,

And powerful surrender to the Maker of the mouth that speaks them and the heart that gave them birth.

“For out of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) whether good or evil.

These words….always good.

For how can the one who says “Yes” to the God of heaven fail to do His good, pleasing, and perfect will? (Romans 12:1)

Two blind men came to Jesus in Matthew 9:28, and when Jesus asked if they believed that He was able to make them see, they replied, “Yes, Lord.”

They witnessed the miraculous because of their faith (vs. 29). They received their sight.

In John 11:25-27 Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” He then asked Martha if she believed this.

Martha replied, “Yes, Lord.” Not long after, she watched as Jesus by the words of his mouth brought her brother, Lazarus, back to life after being dead for four days.

In Acts 9:10 a man named Ananias said “Yes, Lord” after God told him in a vision to go to the house of Judas and speak with Saul. Ananias knew that Saul was a man who was harming Christians. Even so, God told Ananias to “Go!” (vs. 15). Ananias went.

As a result of Ananias’ initial “Yes, Lord”, one of the most influential men in Christian history, Saul who was later named Paul, began preaching. Saul received the Holy Spirit at Ananias’ visit. Because of Ananias’ agreement and surrender, the truth of Jesus Christ was spread to the Gentiles.    

In John 21:15 and following Jesus asked Simon Peter a question three different times. Jesus asked, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” (vs. 17).

Peter replied, “Yes, Lord.” After Peter had replied three times, Jesus told Peter of the death he would die to the glory of God and then said, “Follow me!”

You see, these words of agreement and surrender, “Yes, Lord” are followed by action. Peter said “Yes” to Jesus and followed Him knowing that it would cost him his life. He said “Yes” anyway.

These two words, “Yes, Lord” while rare, beautiful, and powerful, are often

Costly.

For Peter and others it has cost them their earthly lives. For us it could mean this, but it more often could mean experiencing heartache or pain and letting go of something we want to receive to accept something God wants for us. Saying “Yes” to God is often accompanied by simultaneously saying “No” to something else. It could even be a good thing. But are we willing to surrender even the good on the altar of God’s will if He asks it of us? Will we breathe a quiet “Yes, Lord” while our hearts feel like they’re breaking and we don’t completely understand what God has in store?

May God bring us all to that place of “Yes.” That place where sorrow and joy often meet, where we can look up, chin quivering with tear-stained cheeks, and fix our eyes on Jesus, believing Him to be faithful and knowing Him to be good even when our feelings seem to be deceiving us.

In the biography A Chance to Die, Amy Carmichael wrote to her mother, “O may He (God) strengthen you to say YES to Him if He asks something which costs.”   

I don’t know about you, but I want my life to be marked with a long strand of moment by moment “Yeses” to my Lord, Jesus Christ. Believe me, I am aware that some of those “Yeses” cost more than others, but I believe I will find every one worth it. Why? Because any cost a Christian pays to say “Yes” to God is temporary. Heartache, tears, and any suffering and death, are all temporary, but the rewards of saying “Yes” to God are eternal. Obedience, while difficult at times, is always for the good of man and the glory of God.

Those who say “Yes, Lord” to Jesus Christ are the ones who experience the miraculous, who see God at work in everyday life, and are participants in spreading the gospel. They’ve learned to say on the mountaintops “God is good” and in the valleys “God is good”, and they know the presence of God.

Those who say “No” to Christ are those who haven’t come to trust in the One inquiring of them. They are like the rich young ruler who would not follow Christ because of the earthly possessions that he would have to give up by doing so. If the rich young ruler would have truly believed that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the one who owns a cattle on a thousand hills, then giving up his possessions to the poor to follow Christ would not have been such a formidable task. He would have gained Christ.

It is the ones who say “No” to Christ and hold on to what He is asking them to give up, or fails to do what God has called them to do who ultimately pay the greatest price. It is not the one who says “Yes."

I want to be one who listens to God’s whispers and will say “Yes” in response to Him even when it hurts, following Him without knowing the end result, and trusting that my Constant Companion is always good.

Henrietta C. Mears once wrote, “Do not pray for an easy task. Pray to be stronger! The greatness of a man’s power is in the measure of his surrender. It is not a question of who you are, or of what you are, but whether God controls you.”

May we be among those in Church history who count the cost of saying “Yes” to God, give Him control, and find it worth it every time.

My heart whispers back to the One who holds it, "Yes, Lord." 

Just two words. 

Costly, but rare, beautiful, and powerful all the more.