All it takes is one yes. This is something my father etched into my memory as a young kid whenever I felt I wasn’t up to par with a task or new stage in my life. But he saw differently than me. He saw me overcoming and more, so he always reminded me when I needed it, that I would pull through, that I could do it, even when everything in me kept saying I couldn’t. This is what God does to us all. God says, yes, when we, our minds, and situations say no.
In Isaiah 41:10 NLT, it states do not be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
If it is known that God will strengthen us and be with us every step of the way, then why do we feel scared or worried to death when things come our way? Why do we fret? There’s a nasty pest called discouragement that comes to rain on our parade, and it always tries to bring all of its friends: depression, anxiety, fear, and the rest of its negative associates.
Discouragement and its negative associates can do a number on us if we allow it to. When we allow them to run rampant within our lives and minds, they can be the very things that make us doubt ourselves and more importantly, God. This is why we have to capture every thought captive like 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 reminds us to.
I know all too well what happens when we don’t stop these ways of thinking and negative talk in their tracks, and maybe you do too. Recently, I gave up. I gave up believing God could make this difficult situation that I’m in better. Have you given up before? Because God wasn’t solving the situation just how you thought and you may have been putting God on a timer? My giving up, saying no to God put me in a depressive state where it was hard to see a way out. But just as God does, He never left nor forsook me, like I did Him, and like may do him during trying times. God used influential people in my life to remedy my mistake. This said person in my life reminded me what my father and God are constantly telling us all no matter how great the challenge, how steep the hill, or how many nos we tell ourselves. They tell us yes. We are victors, not victims.
A yes goes a long way to anyone. That could be you receiving it or giving it out, so be mindful of your tongue because we never know who’s in need of what we have to say. Maybe we shouldn’t look at our own situations and trials like how am I going to do this? Yet instead, how will God? Sometimes, we need to keep moving forward no matter what the situation or our minds are telling us to do, so God can move. We also need to be gentle with ourselves. We wouldn’t tell our friends they couldn’t do or accomplish something, so we shouldn’t tell the closest friend we have – ourselves – that either.
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 41:10; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
