What it felt like when God whispered go.

It was the spring of 1988 and my family had just pulled out of our driveway headed to church when my stomach twisted. I squirmed as I sat behind the driver’s seat of our 1979 chocolate brown Cadillac Sedan Deville.  My seventeen year-old sister sat to my right and, because my brother was absent, the middle seat remained vacant. I guess the Holy Spirit needed the middle seat that day but He would have to share with my friend Dread, as Dread seemed to follow me a lot.

Although I had I confessed Christ as Savior years earlier, something changed when I turned thirteen.  The Holy Spirit began to compel me.  Compel me to read my Bible, pray or tell the boy at school, from wrong side of the tracks, about Jesus.  Lately, my biggest fear on Sunday mornings was the Holy Spirit was going to compel me to walk down the long crooked-isle of our small-mega church and bend my knees to pray at the altar.  I could think of nothing more embarrassing.

That Sunday was different.  Walking down the isle seemed like small potatoes.  I had a new conviction and it had been brewing for weeks.  I had desperately tried to avoid it by staying busy or distracted.  But now, it was Sunday morning and it was hard not to be confronted by God on Sunday mornings.

As we turned out of our driveway, my stomach twisted.  Something began to gnaw at me like a gaping black hole in my abdomen.  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.  I squirmed in my seat as the conviction began to rise.  The Holy Spirit whispered…say something, say yes. 

Dread reminded me I did not want to say yes. It was too overwhelming.  I could not bear the ramifications of yes.   But I also knew I could not escape the increasingly consistent and rising conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Something had to give.  God help me. 

Before I realized it, I had whispered in a barely audible tone.

I think God is calling me to Africa.

My sister turned her body towards me.  She tilted her head to the side.  Her eyes widened and with a laugh she said …You are going to live in a mud hut in Africa!

I was fourteen years old.

Now, I realize most of you love Jesus so much you would have had no problem saying yes to Christ that morning.  Yes, to Africa.  At fourteen, I thought I loved Jesus.  But maybe, I just wasn’t in love with Him?

That was how my battle over yes began.  For the next twenty plus years, the devil pummeled me.  He was like a roaring lion prowling around seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)  I was easy prey.

That is why my heart is for you, for your yes. My heart is for anyone struggling over how to get to yes.  I don’t want anyone to waste twenty-plus years being easy prey.  I want to teach you what it took me two decades to learn.

  1. The devil presents God’s convictions as obstacles instead of opportunities.
  2. He doesn’t mind you believing in God as long as you don’t believe God.
  3. He will do his best to hijack your emotions and whispers lies into your mind, hoping unfettered emotions and lies will prevent you from saying yes to God.  He’s hoping to convince you God is not good, or cannot be trusted.
  4. The devil will do his best to distract you.  He wants to keep you busy with the wrong things. He wants you to chase the wrong gods.
  5. If you become open to following God, he will do his best to discourage you.  He’ll whisper, God could never use you, God is already using someone better or it will cost too much to follow Him.
  6.  And finally, if you ever start chasing God, the enemy will do his best to defeat you.  (That’s a story for another day.)

We’ve spent the entire summer discussing the ways the enemy works to prevent our yes, because it is important.  We can’t move onto the lessons God wants to teach to equip you to say yes, until we understand how the devil works to keep us at no.

The devil understands saying yes to God will satisfy the deep ache in your soul for love, purpose, and adventure.  Once you experience that, you will experience intimacy with God.  It will change you.  Then, nothing will be able to satisfy you like saying yes to Him.

I don’t know what God is calling you to do.  I don’t know if He is compelling you to start a Bible Study, foster a child, confront someone you love with truth or minister love to someone in need.

I do know there is a war raging in your soul over your yes.  I don’t want you to be deceived by your emotions or the devil’s lies.  I want you to learn to overcome the enemy’s tactics with God’s Word and His goodness because I am confident it will move you from no to yes in your own life.

Next time, we’ll profile yes.  Then, I’ll begin sharing more lessons on how God moved me from no to yes.

 

4 Comments

    1. I’m hope it encouraged you!! I still have to fight the battle over yes. I’m not quite as naive as I used to be. I’m a little more aware of how our enemy works to keep us at no. Praying God will get us all to yes!!

  1. Thank you Dana. You have great wisdom in how we are tricked by our enemy. I am grateful for the certainty that God compels us into the work and life He wants for us. Our enemy does not want us to find it. Bless you!

    1. Amen Carolyn…our enemy does not want us to find it!! Well said. So good to hear from you. Pray for me during this Book Proposal Bootcamp. I believe this could be the door I have been needing to have opened, but it will require much prayer and fasting. God bless you and Bob and all you do for the Kingdom. ❤?

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