She Said Yes

Did she say yes?  She sure did…  Our second daughter said yes to the proposal of marriage from a delightful young man yesterday.  She said yes to his question, which means she said yes to many things.  She said yes to loving him with a selfless love.  She said yes to putting someone else’s best interest ahead of her own.  She said yes to walking through life by his side. She said yes to a lifetime of coming memories that only they will share.  She said yes to conversations that will only theirs.  She said yes to a forever commitment to her future husband. Yes, yes, yes!

 So in saying yes, what has she said “no” to?  She is saying no to dating any other young man.  She is saying no to her own selfish thinking.  Now because of the wonderful tender love they share, she will say no to making decisions based only on her own thinking.  She said no to a single life.

 As I often do with these “freeze frame” moments, I couldn’t help but ponder the saying yes/saying no thought.  Our Heavenly Father often asks us to say yes to His plan, His timing and His way.  We all want to follow his lead, surely?  Noah… Moses… Ruth… David… Esther… Jonah… Daniel… Mary…  When you think of their stories, it is clear that in saying yes to God’s plan for their lives, they were saying no to some seemingly good things.  Moses had a great life with his wife and children tending the sheep for his father-in-law.  Yes meant going back to Egypt – just imagine what he knew he was going to encounter, and he didn’t know the half of it.  Ruth left her family to follow her “bitter” mother-in-law back to a foreign land likely to meet people who wouldn’t like her at all.  And on their stories go.  Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants.  May everything you have said come true.”  She said yes.

Esther was encouraged by Mordecia (with his now famous words) by reminding her that maybe, just maybe, God was calling her to this specific task for “such a time as this”.  So what is God calling you to say yes to right now.  HE has promised that His plans for us are good, even if the plan means saying no to something that seems right and even reasonable to us.  Keep in mind, we see the finite – through a dim glass.  HE sees everything in the light of eternity.  He loves us so very much, and we simply must remember a “yes” to His plan may mean numerous “no’s” to what we thought.  I always want to choose HIS yes for my life…

Luke 2:19 “but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often.”

Lord, give me ears to hear and eyes to clearly see Your plan, then cover me with your strength and peace as I take the first step.  All the while, teach me to quietly treasure these things in my heart.  Amen