My Yes or His No? The Wisdom to Know the Difference

Yes is a potent three-letter word. For the Christian, it can represent faith, obedience, and surrender to God. It reminds us that God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness," and throughout Scripture, His people are often called to respond to Him with a willing "yes." Yes is a good word, wouldn't you say so?

But then, let us reason together.

What if you heard the word yes and it excited you? It became the gateway to everything you thought would bless you. That yes brought you to the mountaintop. You looked ahead and you looked down. Your eyes carried you far and wide. You had the best vantage point, and your soul rested because you believed you had reached the pinnacle. You found peace because only a few ever make it to that secluded place. The noise had faded, and for that, you were grateful.

Ah yes, that yes felt good.

Until one day, you realised that some of those yesses came with many hisses and disses. Then came the all too familiar refrain: you had missed the mark and found yourself in the hot spot.

The next time you arrived at a crossroads, you paused and reflected.

"Perhaps I should say no."

Then another thought came.

Perhaps the question is not simply whether I should say yes or no. Perhaps the greater question is: Who or what should I say yes to? And what are the things that should receive a firm no?

Jesus was no yes man, even though He came as a servant. That posture was not weakness; it was perfect humility, born of love, to reconcile us to true divinity. He said yes to the Father's will, but no to temptation, no to compromise, no to the approval of the crowds, and no to anything that stood in the way of His purpose.

Perhaps wisdom is not found in saying yes to everything. Perhaps wisdom is found in discerning whose voice deserves our yes and whose invitation requires our no. Sometimes our greatest blessing is not in our yes, but in trusting His no.